If you like Rei....why? (survey)

[V]

this isn't asking for essay-length things, but is meant as a *brief and concise* survey (like a paragraph at most)

People like Asuka or Shinji because of their obvious personality flaws....Asuka and Shinji both suffer from personal problems, though their reaction is different: Asuka is angry and encloses herself in an outer shell of superiority, while Shinji is sort of the "otaku-messiah" because he's really emo and suffers a lot, and internalizes all of his problems etc. etc.

Well I could go on about Shinji and Asuka, but the point is:.....I don't think I need to say to all of you guys that "Rei is something of a mystery"

Asuka and Shinji are out there in the open; even Shinji, with his internalized meek personality, at least TALKS and verbalizes his problems.

But Rei is a mystery...not the whole mystery of "physically what is Rei" etc. etc.

****I'm talking about "what is Rei's personality" and why do people like her?

Too often I've seen that people kind of....project their own hopes and fears onto Rei, because she's really basically a blank slate. She really *doesn't* do that much in the series


As for myself, Rei is probably my least favorite (I'm a huge Asuka fan) so I really don't understand it: at first I was neutral to Rei, then I gradually came to really hate her because she's overhyped a lot but doesn't do much and then, I turned around again and said "you know, *Anno* wrote an...intriguing character here (in the way Data from Next Generation is intriguing) but.....she's been lost in fan interpretations. So many people say she's so many different things that what was actually intended kind of gets drowned out. So while I'll never come to truly "like" Rei as a person, I do think the character is interesting......in a common scifi sort of way of "robot/alien girl learns to have emotions" etc. etc.


So just, succinctly, why do you like Rei?

[Eva Yojimbo]

I like Rei precisely because she IS a mystery. She's also one of the best metaphoric/metonymic devices in all of visual narrative-dom. What I mean by that is that she encapsulates a large amount of NGE's major themes (motherhood and "what makes us, us" just to name two) so well, that even if she fails a bit as a real, believable human character, she works wonderful as a device. I also said before that I think it says a lot that, of the children, the one who's least "human" physically/spiritually, the one who's perhaps gone through the most in terms of not understanding herself, is the one who in EoE is able to make the selfless sacrifice for someone else.

If there is a Christ figure in NGE it's Rei.

As far as personality... I think the most interesting thing about Rei is that, like you said, she's a blank slate. She's an abstract. Of all the characters we learn the least about Rei, but - and this is indicative of why abstract art is popular - she's the one who receives the most attention, the most interpretation, the most fanfics, etc. It seems to me that Anno said Rei was a walking plot device, but this goes to show how art can take on a life of its own independent of original intent. Rei is popular precisely because people can project and speculate. I mean, think of what Zuggy's done with Rei; you can't do that with any other character. That's why she's special, and that's why she's loved.

You not being a lover of the more abstract elements in NGE, V, I get why you're not such a fan.

[swamp147]

She's unique in that:
- she houses Lilith's soul; this is cool
- she is the epitome of an introvert; people who are introverted sympathize and relate to her
- it's warming to see Shinji's attempts to get her to open up, like after Ramiel
- she's mysterious, so people become curious and want to know more about her; example, she seems cheery and talkative around Gendo but not anyone else.
- she's hot
- her alter ego in episode 26 is awesome
- related to the 3rd point above; she forms a sort of bond with Shinji near the end of the series and EoE
- she's selfless

[Formless One]

I think that she is an interesting character because she is asking these same questions about herself. She has a crisis of identity and of finding her purpose in life. These things are not as clear early on in the series, but then we don't get into her head until the end. She is quite human, her inability to even voice her problems to herself makes her like a lot of people who are frustrated at life. Shinji is similar, but she goes the extra mile.

Plus, arguably she is the only character who finds answers to her questions... and then finds it to be too horrible. She is asking fundamentally about what makes living worth it? She has nothing, but she decides in the end she wants to live anyway, as Rei (in EoTV).

And we all wonder what she will do after it is all said and done. Well, more so than Shinji and Asuka, but only because its obvious that they are going to do something. fuck, probably Rei has actually used to do nothing in her free time. So now that she has chosen life, what will she do with it?






All that said, I will always say that her appeal derives from the fact we see her rack more often than the other significant females.

[Sailor Star Dust]

I like Rei because of how even though she's two mothers, Lilith and Yui, she IS still her own person. Even though she doesn't always see that.

[CorporalChaos]

She gets huge and turns everyone in to astronaut food in End of Evangelion.

[Sachi]

I like teh Rei. She has the biggest boobs in animu.

[NemZ]

I like Rei because she's deep... she actually thinks about her situation and that of others from a perspective beyond "oh, poor me!" She's also quite perceptive, picking out deep truths about the people around her that they would rather deny. I could see myself very much enjoying just drinking some coffee and talking to her for quite some time.

The whole 'caged bird' angle really appeals to the romantic idiot in me who wants to help her solve her problems. There is something about being needed that is quite attractive... well, as long as the female in question isn't all desperate and clingy, as then it gets annoying fast. Rei has a rare blend of self-sufficiency and vulnerability that could make this work.

[AuraTwilight]

I like Rei precisely because she IS a mystery. She's also one of the best metaphoric/metonymic devices in all of visual narrative-dom. What I mean by that is that she encapsulates a large amount of NGE's major themes (motherhood and "what makes us, us" just to name two) so well, that even if she fails a bit as a real, believable human character, she works wonderful as a device. I also said before that I think it says a lot that, of the children, the one who's least "human" physically/spiritually, the one who's perhaps gone through the most in terms of not understanding herself, is the one who in EoE is able to make the selfless sacrifice for someone else.

If there is a Christ figure in NGE it's Rei.

I think that she is an interesting character because she is asking these same questions about herself. She has a crisis of identity and of finding her purpose in life. These things are not as clear early on in the series, but then we don't get into her head until the end. She is quite human, her inability to even voice her problems to herself makes her like a lot of people who are frustrated at life. Shinji is similar, but she goes the extra mile.

Plus, arguably she is the only character who finds answers to her questions... and then finds it to be too horrible. She is asking fundamentally about what makes living worth it? She has nothing, but she decides in the end she wants to live anyway, as Rei (in EoTV).

And we all wonder what she will do after it is all said and done. Well, more so than Shinji and Asuka, but only because its obvious that they are going to do something. fuck, probably Rei has actually used to do nothing in her free time. So now that she has chosen life, what will she do with it?

I like Rei because she's deep... she actually thinks about her situation and that of others from a perspective beyond "oh, poor me!" She's also quite perceptive, picking out deep truths about the people around her that they would rather deny. I could see myself very much enjoying just drinking some coffee and talking to her for quite some time.

All of that covers the majority of what I wanted to say. I like Rei because, ironically, as the mother of all humanity, she is also the personification of EVERYTHING that defines humanity as a psychological species. To drive this point home, she finds her answers by casting aside everything that made her human, and used her new wisdom to help Shinji, and probably other humans via splash damage, to come to terms with their own humanity without losing it. She literally sacrificed her human existence for the rest of the species, and can truly be our mother.

Furthermore, I empathize with her because IRL, I have a lot in common with her. I live in a room similar to a hospital room, always take medications and take lab tests, thought of as creepy and unhuman by others, and treated by the people I call family as an object instead of a human being. My life is even expendable, as once I die, people are going to eagerly go in to inspect my corpse. The only reason I decided to keep living, after much introspection, is for the sake of my boyfriend, who while not emo like Shinji, has the same problems of abandonment from his parents. Also, like Rei, I have a lot of fans on the internet, as a Google search will show, so if she ever gets mobbed by her fans in some sort of weird universal crossover, I would empathize with her.

[TheAyanamiOtaku]

All the stuff she said in the August 14th, 2008 8:54PM post

Yeah I agree too. Except for the a-lot-of-people-who-know-me part.

I don't have a lot of time today, but I like how Rei is different from most humans, and does not slip into our minds as someone who is coo-coo. Well, at least not in the beginning (And to me, never). And because of this, we do not dismiss her as a coo-coo, and begin to try to analyze her, with Anno forcing her to vomit up bits and pieces for us to scrutinize. I love Rei's character and as a person because she is impressively deep, and that she is the arguably most heroic, tragic (and funny?) character in NGE. Running the gamit of most, if not all human emotions without moving 1/209347098 of one's facial muscles takes talent. And because of Anno, Rei is a masterpiece. And because she kinda represents the Triple Goddess (I just got familiar with the term, someone who has read The Sandman numerous times should back me up on this claim or prove me wrong) as well, whether or not that was intentional on Anno's part. Rei just has so many things built inside of her, more more moving to me than other characters (Gendo is a close second, and Asuka and Shinji are a closer third).

[Iron Rooster]

Maybe people like her because in a sea of mental cases, with the exception of not understanding emotions effectively, she's pretty normal.

[Eva Yojimbo]

And because she kinda represents the Triple Goddess (I just got familiar with the term, someone who has read The Sandman numerous times should back me up on this claim or prove me wrong)

Mother (her link to Yui), Maiden (Uhhh, well, Shinji did touch her boob), Crone (In this case her link to Lilith works). It kinda works, though very loosely. Rei as herself would be the Maiden, while Rei as "parts" would be the "mothers".

[simon]

I have to agree with V and disagree at the same time.

As a character she sucks. As a metaphor she works great.

She's a part in 'the personality triangle' that I adore in NGE (the triangle, not Rei). Asuka is on one verge, Rei on the other and Shinji in between. If we add the colours, and the sun, moon reference it's a perfect simplified visualization of all the human personalities. That's why I see NGE as a dispute over the best attitude to live our real lifes.

Shinji is the one to choose between the two and find the Golden Centre. He admires Rei for her straightforward way of acting, but he falls in love with Asuka's temperament.

So

In general as part of the triangle Rei is awesome. As a Stand Alone character she lacks the Complex part, if you know what I mean. :)

[master_lloyd]

Because she's nude.

[Action_Bastard]

I agree with simon 100%.

[V]

You not being a lover of the more abstract elements in NGE, V, I get why you're not such a fan.

I am openly more of a fan of the "psychology" aspects of the show than the more esoteric/philosophical stuff: Shinji's Avoidant personality, Asuka's Narcissistic-B personality, Misato and Ritsuko's Electra complexes and other problems, etc. etc. That they'd put such flawed and realistic characters in a show: I once heard it described that the droids in Star Wars do what WE the audience would do in that situation; we like to think we'd do something heroic like Han or Luke, but we'd really probably just cower in fear like C-3PO. Instead, effectively, Eva just made a show ABOUT the C-3PO character....who actually *doesn't* succeed by fighting, etc. etc.

but its hard to classify Rei "psychologically": she is literally an alien soul wrapped in a human body. She's got an entirely "alien" (truly alien) mindset and internal thought processes, but through the filter of a human body kind of grows to act like a person.....but was she ever a person? she worries about that a lot herself

Further, in most shows the "alien/robot girl" suddenly discovers human emotions when the "buff Zapp Brannican space commander teaches her How To Love"...........that doesn't really happen in Eva

that is....I think Eva did it much better and much more subtle: Rei doesn't stand up and shout "I love Shinji and I fully understand human emotions now!" etc etc which would have been really ham-fisted

it's just really subtly, and not even with much emotion when she does it (she doesn't "break character" as it were), she just quietly but firmly says to Gendo "I'm not your doll, and Shinji needs me" and then she "dies" by returning to Lilith.

Which is a HECK of a lot better than the usual way a ham-fisted Hollywood hack would have handled Rei

she doesn't have the epiphantic moment and "get human emotions" like a Kirk love interest: she just really subtly gains an understanding....again, much like how Data (in the GOOD episodes of Next Generation) wouldn't instantly start acting human, but he would very subtly gain a new understanding of a nuance of the human condition.

[Mr. Tines]

She's a mystery much of the time -- but what we do see of her, I saw a lot of "Yes, that's how I'd (re-)act in that situation." My appreciation of her is much more intellectual, as opposed to the raw emotional level for Asuka.

[V]

You not being a lover of the more abstract elements in NGE, V, I get why you're not such a fan.

I am openly more of a fan of the "psychology" aspects of the show than the more esoteric/philosophical stuff: Shinji's Avoidant personality, Asuka's Narcissistic-B personality, Misato and Ritsuko's Electra complexes and other problems, etc. etc. That they'd put such flawed and realistic characters in a show: I once heard it described that the droids in Star Wars do what WE the audience would do in that situation; we like to think we'd do something heroic like Han or Luke, but we'd really probably just cower in fear like C-3PO. Instead, effectively, Eva just made a show ABOUT the C-3PO character....who actually *doesn't* succeed by fighting, etc. etc.

but its hard to classify Rei "psychologically": she is literally an alien soul wrapped in a human body. She's got an entirely "alien" (truly alien) mindset and internal thought processes, but through the filter of a human body kind of grows to act like a person.....but was she ever a person? she worries about that a lot herself

Further, in most shows the "alien/robot girl" suddenly discovers human emotions when the "buff Zapp Brannican space commander teaches her How To Love"...........that doesn't really happen in Eva

that is....I think Eva did it much better and much more subtle: Rei doesn't stand up and shout "I love Shinji and I fully understand human emotions now!" etc etc which would have been really ham-fisted

it's just really subtly, and not even with much emotion when she does it (she doesn't "break character" as it were), she just quietly but firmly says to Gendo "I'm not your doll, and Shinji needs me" and then she "dies" by returning to Lilith.

Which is a HECK of a lot better than the usual way a ham-fisted Hollywood hack would have handled Rei

she doesn't have the epiphantic moment and "get human emotions" like a Kirk love interest: she just really subtly gains an understanding....again, much like how Data (in the GOOD episodes of Next Generation) wouldn't instantly start acting human, but he would very subtly gain a new understanding of a nuance of the human condition.

- she is the epitome of an introvert; people who are introverted sympathize and relate to her

but therein lies my biggest question: Isn't Shinji "the introvert"? Rei's even more Introverted than Shinji is; why don't they sympathize with Shinji more?

The whole 'caged bird' angle really appeals to the romantic idiot in me who wants to help her solve her problems....Rei has a rare blend of self-sufficiency and vulnerability that could make this work.

the inherent and vestigial evolutionary urge towards chivalry in the male? and Asuka is too "scary"? I think Asuka needs "hugs" just as much as Rei, the problem is she's lashing out about her problems. But playing on the inherent drive towards chivarly? the ol' "I can't stand to see a woman cry"? Delusions: temporary construct of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose, and all of them as artificial as the make-believe world of the Eva television series itself.

always take medications and take lab tests,

for what?

[Sailor Star Dust]

with the exception of not understanding emotions effectively, she's pretty normal.

Heh, I always found it interesting how Shinji and Asuka are in fact the most fucked up of the three main pilots while Rei's the normal one. I like that about her, too, actually.

[AuraTwilight]

for what?

Lots of stuff. To sum it up without bawwing out the drama and derailing the topic, I'm terminally ill with something apparently unique to myself, so they're still figuring it out while they treat me.