Why do you people like Rei so much?

[master0rolando]

actually i recently had a date with a girl with blue hair...(its rare to meet a girl with blue hair...much rarer to meet a hot one that makes it work!)

it makes me wonder if id say something to Rei about it if i met her...

...hmm...what would i say?

Mmm, you remind of someone I used to date?

oh no...shes nothing like Rei...shes loud and silly...

[NemZ]

Is the Rei-in-Shinji's-mind really Rei? Or just what he thinks about her?

I think it's the real people, yes. By interacting this way each participant gets to see not just how others thing about themselves, but how they think about the viewer as well, forcing a confrontation between the self as known and the self as it is. How much of the dissonance is a product of denial, and should the denied truths be accepted or expunged? How much is misunderstanding, and what did the viewer do to foster that misunderstanding, intentionally or otherwise?

[VoidEater]

^ That makes sense. It's a stronger dramatic point, though a weaker philosophical one...cheers

[Zaiku]

oh no...shes nothing like Rei...shes loud and silly...

Ah, then she is the episode 26 Rei.

[etjusticepourtous]

You guys are to superficial. Have your met a person who is real mysterious and tried all in your power to befriend them or to open up? And in the end both of you part ways, and you never really know the person. Well, that's what I find intriguing about Rei you know there's more to her but she's holding back.

[Alaska Slim]

Depends whether you think it's worth hitting on lesbians... But yeah -- Ritsuko is mai waifu (even if that means I'm cradle-snatching).

Well she would currently be 23 professor, sure you're not "snatching" a little too soon?

You guys are to superficial.

Mind elaborating?

[Gamer_2k4]

I think (as a result of his elaboration that you seem to have missed) that he's condemning the people who like Rei simply because she's physically attractive.

[etjusticepourtous]

I think (as a result of his elaboration that you seem to have missed) that he's condemning the people who like Rei simply because she's physically attractive.

The other way around, she is in a sense, but people have stated that her eyes are different colors, shes to quiet, and that she has a pale skin. The characters from the series are like real life people to an extent with their personalities.

[Mr. Tines]

The characters from the series are like real life people to an extent with their personalities.

But all of the characters we know about have flawed personalities, not just Rei.

Being so reserved, though, she does present an air of alluring mystery -- and "It's not the kill, it's the thrill of the chase"

sure you're not "snatching" a little too soon?

She's legal -- what more do you need? (well, as well as being highly intelligent and good looking too.) Also "Current Avatar: Nicoletta (from Ristorante Paradiso) because the world needs more cute 21 year old oyajicons!"

[Alaska Slim]

Being so reserved, though, she does present an air of alluring mystery --

Sadly, that's all the anime really gave her. Her development became a sacrificial anode for the sake of the plot.

She's legal -- what more do you need?

Well I'd like to see the "beauty mark" go (I associate such a feature with a certain Disney villain), and I already told you about my problem with blondes.

My issues are not all superficial though, she lacks… strength, or something like it.

Also "Current Avatar: Nicoletta (from Ristorante Paradiso) because the world needs more cute 21 year old oyajicons!"

Yeah... that thing strangely reinforced my image of you being like Rene Auberjonois.

[PuppetChaos]

Rei is like Carl Jung's 'fairy-like woman', a woman who's 'so fascinatingly vague' that people can project their own fantasies and expectations upon her. If you want Rei to be a sad, sad girl, she is. If you want her to secretly be a freak in the sack, she is. If you want her to be an evil genius secretly plotting the downfall of Gendo Ikari and NERV, and then claim world domination... well, maybe that's stretching it. (maybe ... as awesome as that idea is)

I'm not saying that Rei has no character/personality whatsoever, but 'vague' is a good descriptor for the girl.

(PS: Carl Jung is my homeboy)

[Gamer_2k4]

Rei is like Carl Jung's 'fairy-like woman', a woman who's 'so fascinatingly vague' that people can project their own fantasies and expectations upon her.

Well sure. In a show where every main character is so detailed, the viewer can't accept that Rei is as one-dimensional as she often seems. Naturally, they expand her in their own way, like you said.

It's interesting that there's a prototypical character model like that out there already (to me, anyway), though I suppose literary works like this have been analyzed like crazy by now.

[Iron Rooster]

They're called b(.)(.)bs. It's also the same reason why Shinji fapped over Asuka.

[Gamer_2k4]

They're called b(.)(.)bs. It's also the same reason why Shinji fapped over Asuka.

Not necessarily. For example, I don't use certain desktop wallpapers because I want to think of Rei and Asuka as characters, not sex objects.

This == A-okay:
http://people.msoe.edu/~brayshaj/files/NGE/rei_4.jpg

This == Not likely:
http://people.msoe.edu/~brayshaj/files/NGE/NGE_rei_sparkly_1920x1200.jpg

(Of course, maybe you were only talking about yourself, in which case ignore me. =P)

[Alaska Slim]

I'm not saying that Rei has no character/personality whatsoever, but 'vague' is a good descriptor for the girl.

... and yet I swear her character was the complete inspiration for this anime and the female lead there-in.

[PuppetChaos]

Well sure. In a show where every main character is so detailed, the viewer can't accept that Rei is as one-dimensional as she often seems. Naturally, they expand her in their own way, like you said.

Yeah, Rei isn't one-dimensional, but the problem is that she's a lot harder to figure out than the other characters. As you said, people expand on her character, and it's usually (?) to their own preferences.

It's interesting that there's a prototypical character model like that out there already (to me, anyway), though I suppose literary works like this have been analyzed like crazy by now.

Jung was referring to mythological characters (such as the 'queen of faeries' or whatever it is that pops up in Celtic myth) as opposed to purely literary ones, I think... but he was using it to refer how, in reality, people fall in love with someone... but in some cases they're not in love with the person, but rather their idea of the person.

Which is even more applicable to the massive Rei fandom, because Rei, being a fictional character, is an idea herself... and then people end up liking an idea of an idea. Or an idea of an idea of an idea. Wow, that's not meta at all.

http://people.msoe.edu/~brayshaj/files/NGE/NGE_rei_sparkly_1920x1200.jpg

Something always perplexed me about that image, but it's not the boob-ness of it. (I like boobs too much to let that element bother me) :\

[Reichu]

In a show where every main character is so detailed, the viewer can't accept that Rei is as one-dimensional as she often seems.

I have no problem accepting this.

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Rei is great. I don't know what it is but she's really grown on me and I think she's a good character. Well, like some of you have said already, until she's sacrificed to forward the plot.

I think if Rei acted like she does in episode 26's alternate reality, for the entire series, that would be awesome.

[NemZ]

This thread is beginning to make me sad... and it's mostly my fellow Rei supporters that are responsible.

[HENRCAST]

If you keep analyzing Rei and comparing her to other characters, she certainly seems one-sided. But then I remember that the episodes about Rei are between my favorites of the entire series (those are 5, 6 and 23, I think), there's no way I can say I don't like Rei, even though she isn't my favorite character (nothing beats Asuka).