Is Rei... Shinji's cousin or something?

[arkiel]

Angels do. We don't know anything about Seeds.

[Bagheera]

Remember from episode 3 that Angels have DNA that's amazingly similar to human DNA.

"Three billion years of evolution? Pah! Your science is weak. This is SCIENCE!!!"

[Someone]

She is in a certain manga. Can't recall which one.

[child of Lilith]

Angels do. We don't know anything about Seeds.

This.

I'm also pleased to note this thread hasn't imploded in my absence. There might be hope after all.

[Kushwoho44]

I think there is more to the Rei-Shinji relationship than just from a biological viewpoint. You have to understand, there are some people in the world who look upon a female human being as their mother or maternal figure without any biological relation (such as orphans) and thus I think that familial relationships are defined by more than just biology.

As such, I've always looked at Shinji and Rei relationship as a brother and sister relationship although when I first started watching NGE I assumed there would be some sexual tension between the two! LOL! >.<

P.S: I'm not from an Asian background so I'm not familiar with Asian names. Is Rei the first name or second name?

[child of Lilith]

First.

[symbv]

Here (in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, HK) we pronounce Rei last because in the abovementioned countries the surname comes first and then the given name (which the name Rei is)

[Kushwoho44]

Hi!

Are you from Japan?

If so, I respect your command of the English language!

I have a few questions:

1. I'm not trolling but a few of my Asian friends make jokes about 'Hentai.' Is this basically cartoon pornography? If so, is it a part of your culture that is viewed upon as normal? As a westerner, this truly is an absurdist concept to me and entirely foreign.

2. Does Japanese society differ greatly from American and by extension Australian everyday society? Pardon my ignorance, I am sure you have a good picture of general westerner culture from American (crappy) TV shows.

3. I basically joined this forum to discuss Evangelion (which I am clearly a noob at comparing to some of you) but moreso to make friends and learn about another culure. Is is acceptable to ask culture questions etc on this forum or is it strictly Eva?

Thanks!

[symbv]

Are you from Japan?

Nope. And I do not think there are anybody from Japan in this forum.

1. I'm not trolling but a few of my Asian friends make jokes about 'Hentai.' Is this basically cartoon pornography? If so, is it a part of your culture that is viewed upon as normal? As a westerner, this truly is an absurdist concept to me and entirely foreign.

Hentai only means "perverted" in Japanese. The use of it to mean only "cartoon/anime pornography" is a western creation. It is not used as such among Japanese anime/manga/game fans.

As for anime porn, it has much deeper root in Japan but it should not be considered mainstream at all. It is still viewed with disgust or contempt by most in the society, but since anime fandom is so much bigger in Japan and there are a lot more fans who are into adult stuff like porn there (not to say many professionals working in the industry start their career working on porn stuff), the tolerance among anime fans is much higher than, say, the west.

2. Does Japanese society differ greatly from American and by extension Australian everyday society? Pardon my ignorance, I am sure you have a good picture of general westerner culture from American (crappy) TV shows.

Depends on what you look. Hardware wise it may be not so different -- you have multinationals, modern amenities, working people etc. So everyday life is not that different. That said, the culture in Japan can be VERY DIFFERENT. It can look different even for its neighboring countries like Korea or China, so it can look radically different to people in the west. It is a very big topic. I suggest you go to your local library and check out some books about Japanese culture if you want to learn more -- there are quite a big number of those books.

3. I basically joined this forum to discuss Evangelion (which I am clearly a noob at comparing to some of you) but moreso to make friends and learn about another culure. Is is acceptable to ask culture questions etc on this forum or is it strictly Eva?

Sure, the Off-Topic section where the Welcome thread is located is for discussions of everything not related to Evangelion, including cultural matters.


I am sure my post and yours are off-topic for this thread. If you want to continue, please start a thread in the Off-Topic section or use an existing thread that is appropriate.

[Mr. Tines]

when I first started watching NGE I assumed there would be some sexual tension between the two! LOL!

By the end of episode 6 we've clearly been set up for a slowly growing relationship between the two, as they help each other out of their shells (along with the stereotypical interruption by a brash outsider in the form of that redhead who shows up for a few frames in the OP, but haven't seen in-show to date).

I'm not familiar with Asian names. Is Rei the first name or second name?

It doesn't help that in general usage (not just confined to in-series) name order is Westernised at least part of the time (often done proactively when dealing with those easily confused westerners); and that, in-series, Shinji, being the shy retiring type, refers to and calls her by surname in respectful manner.

[juaxoo]

isnt Rei just a clone of Shinji's mother why r we making all this more complicated than it needs to be?

[child of Lilith]

Did you even read this thread?