Rei Ayanami
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Trowa_Ayanami wrote:Evangelionfreak wrote:Timstuff wrote:Really, Asuka suffers from the same kind of abandonment issues that Shinji does, however she deals with them in a different way. If you don't feel sorry for her even after learning all of the things she went through, then you're a pretty cold person.
well i guess im a pretty cold person. I never felt for her durring the series and durring EoE
I agree with you 100% right there.
I just had little to absolutely zero sympathy for the arrogant, egotistical bitch.
The whole series teaches a very powerful lesson to Asuka:
Pride comes before a fall
Sigh, you obviously didn't get the point about Asuka. Maybe she's not even really all that proud, it's just her way of defending, by attacking. Her case was like Shinji's, except much, MUCH crueler.
Shinji may have had to watch his mother die, but that's nothing compared to watching your mother commit suicide, all the while thinking that she's taking you with her. :cry:
Technically, Yui was absorbed by Unit 01 voluntarily, but the mental scar that the death of Asuka's mother left was obviously far greater. Asuka's father ignored her similar to Shinji's, however she did have a step mother who had at least some compassion for her, even if it wasn't enough.
They both had very traumatic childhoods, and I'm not sure if it's fair to say that one had it worse than the other. What's for sure though, is that they're both suffering the same pain, and have their own ways of dealing with it-- neither of which turned out to be very good in the long run.
Technically, Yui was absorbed by Unit 01 voluntarily, but the mental scar that the death of Asuka's mother left was obviously far greater. Asuka's father ignored her similar to Shinji's, however she did have a step mother who had at least some compassion for her, even if it wasn't enough.
They both had very traumatic childhoods, and I'm not sure if it's fair to say that one had it worse than the other. What's for sure though, is that they're both suffering the same pain, and have their own ways of dealing with it-- neither of which turned out to be very good in the long run.
Many people would say it's the opposite. Shinji seems to mostly just complain, and seems like he expects someone else to come along and fix his problems for him. Asuka actually tries to deal with her problems in a way, but she does not do it very effectively. She essentially tries to hide who she is and forget about her past traumas, and lashes out at anything that could potentially bring down her emotional wall. They are both screwed up kids though, and niether of their approaches worked at the end of the day, and they were forced to face their problems head-on.
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Mmkay, my opinion? Asuka is a bitch. "A woman considered to be spiteful or overbearing." Implies unpleasantness. Does it fit? Yes. Asuka has been a total bitch on multiple occasions. When you call someone a "bitch", is there some kind of hidden rule that states "a female can only qualify for bitch-dom if she has no psychological problems motivating her behavior"? Nope. Like most derogatory terms, though, it is a simplification, like if somebody calls Gendo a "bastard", Shinji a "pussy", or Misato a "slut".
I identify much more with Shinji than with either Rei -- whose person strikes up a rather vague and uncomfortable sense of discord with me -- and Asuka -- whose coping mechanisms and self-delusions are like fingernails on the chalkboard of my brain. I just can't relate to so much of it; totally not in my default programming, and the sort of stuff she does automatically I, quite simply, *don't*, or veer away from with a burning passion.
Shinji's constant struggles with purpose and self-worth, the tug-of-war between embracing 'reality' (for lack of a better term) and running away from it, the trap of depression, the obligatory hedgehog status, and so on, are all quite familiar, even though the context is quite different.
I did have one special bonding moment with Asuka, though: See my slightly disjointed essay here about Asuka's childhood, the coping mechanisms she developed as a result, and how said mechanisms only hold her back later.
(It was hard to decide which post to mark as the first. Browse at your leisure, I suppose.)
I identify much more with Shinji than with either Rei -- whose person strikes up a rather vague and uncomfortable sense of discord with me -- and Asuka -- whose coping mechanisms and self-delusions are like fingernails on the chalkboard of my brain. I just can't relate to so much of it; totally not in my default programming, and the sort of stuff she does automatically I, quite simply, *don't*, or veer away from with a burning passion.
Shinji's constant struggles with purpose and self-worth, the tug-of-war between embracing 'reality' (for lack of a better term) and running away from it, the trap of depression, the obligatory hedgehog status, and so on, are all quite familiar, even though the context is quite different.
I did have one special bonding moment with Asuka, though: See my slightly disjointed essay here about Asuka's childhood, the coping mechanisms she developed as a result, and how said mechanisms only hold her back later.
(It was hard to decide which post to mark as the first. Browse at your leisure, I suppose.)
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Timstuff wrote:Many people would say it's the opposite. Shinji seems to mostly just complain, and seems like he expects someone else to come along and fix his problems for him. Asuka actually tries to deal with her problems in a way, but she does not do it very effectively. ... niether of their approaches worked at the end of the day, and they were forced to face their problems head-on.
I think most of this is right, except the highlighted part doesn't quite sit right with me. It would boil down to a matter of semantics and what counts as "dealing with one's problems". They both have coping mechanisms, only Shinji's operate on passivity -- that's how he "deals".
Both methods are pretty crappy, like you more-or-less said, so fussing over which one is "better" is ultimately quite meaningless. One of the more interesting elements of Shinji and Asuka's polarized coping mechanisms, and how they divide fans so sharply, is that, once you strip away all those layers of sediment, you're left with two creatures who really aren't that different.
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DevRei17 wrote:I personally think Rei is one of the most, if not the most intriguing character in EVA.
Yeah I completely agree. She is the most fascinating fictional character I ever came across out of all the anime, manga and books I read. I identify with her in ways and I love her image. She is just fragile. I like Asuka too (not as much as Rei ;-p ) especially when she came into the series, she gave the series humour and then she fell apart it was interesting. Asuka is a very realistic person in my eyes as I know people who are like her and I can understand them.
I feel liking the character Rei Ayanami can tell a lot about yourself to me it is like self expression.
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I also agree with you. Of all the different shows I’ve seen, there has never been another character that has resonated with me like Rei has. I see so much of myself in her that it sometimes feels like I’m looking in a mirror when I watch the show.
Another reason why I like her so much is because Rei is an eternal mystery. No matter how hard you try you can never fully grasp who or what she is.
Another reason why I like her so much is because Rei is an eternal mystery. No matter how hard you try you can never fully grasp who or what she is.
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I like how in all 4 pages of this ancient thread, barely anybody went into the reasons why they like or dislike Rei.
Anyway, I like the fact that Rei has the whole "two mothers in one" deal with Lilith and Yui going on, and it is nice how she's able to eventually come to terms with herself by retaining her identity when returning to Lilith... However it is disappointing we never really get into her head and find out what her thoughts are on most matters. Though I guess that fits in nicely with Rei being the goddess/mother of human life, she's meant to be a mystery and people aren't meant to understand everything about her, similar to intentionally not being able to understand everything about the Eva.
Anyway, I like the fact that Rei has the whole "two mothers in one" deal with Lilith and Yui going on, and it is nice how she's able to eventually come to terms with herself by retaining her identity when returning to Lilith... However it is disappointing we never really get into her head and find out what her thoughts are on most matters. Though I guess that fits in nicely with Rei being the goddess/mother of human life, she's meant to be a mystery and people aren't meant to understand everything about her, similar to intentionally not being able to understand everything about the Eva.
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