Why did Gendo take Yui's last name?

[Chuckman]

I know you all mean the practical reasons, but Gendo took Yui's name because she's the spiritual center of the series and everything turns on her.

Rebuild deliberately reverses this, making Gendo the center, and equating Yui to Rei via their last names, i.e. making her disposable and replaceable.

[ElMariachi]

Rebuild deliberately reverses this, making Gendo the center, and equating Yui to Rei via their last names, i.e. making her disposable and replaceable.

Seeing the absolutely insane lengths Gendo is going to see her again in Q(24 years after she disappeared!), I really doubt that she's considered as disposable and replaceable, even though her presence isn't felt as more as in NGE, notably because most of the scenes where she appears to Shinji(Leliel, the month being absorbed inside EVA-01 after Zeruel) aren't in the Rebuild.

[NemZ]

Wait... Yui's name is Ayanami in rebuild? Shit, I totally missed that.

and now I have to assume that all three girls are Shinji's sisters, the poor bastard. And that means Asuka/Mari is incest too. Welcome to squick town, everybody!

[pwhodges]

We just need a reason for Kaworu to be his brother and the family is complete! (Well, he does appear to call Gendou "father", so perhaps we do have the full set of siblings! )

[Falcon_of_the_Sun]

I always thought that Rokubungi sounds simply awful, which is a rare thing for a Japanese name or surname (at least to my ears). I mean, it sounds like "cowabunga" ffs. Ikari sounds a gazillion times better.

[ElMariachi]

Wait... Yui's name is Ayanami in rebuild? Shit, I totally missed that.

Her maiden name yes, in this continuity it's Yui who took Gendo's surname, which is Ikari instead of Rokubungi, the exact contrary of what happened in NGE. It's Fuyutsuki who reveals it to Shinji in 3.0 during the Shogi play of Doom.

Which sheds a whole new light on Gendo's relationship toward Rei in Rebuild(at least before the time skip)

[Chuckman]

Seeing the absolutely insane lengths Gendo is going to see her again in Q(24 years after she disappeared!), I really doubt that she's considered as disposable and replaceable, even though her presence isn't felt as more as in NGE, notably because most of the scenes where she appears to Shinji(Leliel, the month being absorbed inside EVA-01 after Zeruel) aren't in the Rebuild.

He may not think of her as replaceable. I'm talking more about symbolism and narrative force than an individual character's perception here.

On the other hand, I'm not sure Rebuild Gendo is as fixated on reuniting with Yui as his NGE counterpart.

Wait... Yui's name is Ayanami in rebuild? Shit, I totally missed that.

and now I have to assume that all three girls are Shinji's sisters, the poor bastard. And that means Asuka/Mari is incest too. Welcome to squick town, everybody!

Squicky for you, maybe.

[ElMariachi]

He may not think of her as replaceable. I'm talking more about symbolism and narrative force than an individual character's perception here.

Oh, I see, you're right : while Yui's influence is heavily felt thorough NGE, influencing both Gendo and Shinji and being the final force that throws SEELE's plans for HIP down the gutter(with the help of Rei, a clone of her), in Rebuild her presence is barely felt, and only in minor scenes(Gendo seeing Yui in Rei when she asks for the dinner in 2.0, him talking to Lilith's head in Q), this time it's really Gendo who's the driving influence of everything, especially now that he overthrown SEELE.

On the other hand, I'm not sure Rebuild Gendo is as fixated on reuniting with Yui as his NGE counterpart.

I feels that too : his Master Plan clearly has reuniting with Yui as an objective, but the more time pass and the more I suspect that it's not the only one, and that Yui could have been a co-conspirator in the Plan alongside Gendo and Fuyu. The change of her maiden name could symbolize the fact that Gendo isn't as "enslaved" by her as in NGE, leaving room for a Plan of a larger scale than "get back mai waifu".

[Reichu]

Also I think it's worth pointing out that Gendo never actually joined Seele.

This is news to me.

[Lavinius]

This is news to me.

Well, at least that's how I always interpreted it... I mean, Gendo is clearly subservient and apart from them, he isn't present at most of their meetings, he doesn't even have a monolith...

[Reichu]

Well, at least that's how I always interpreted it... I mean, Gendo is clearly subservient and apart from them, he isn't present at most of their meetings, he doesn't even have a monolith...

That's Seele's inner circle, the upper echelon. The organization is much bigger than those 12 or 15 or however many guys.

[ShockTrance]

Wait... Yui's name is Ayanami in rebuild? Shit, I totally missed that.

Hold on, really? Then, since Yui took Gendo's name instead, does that mean -- by extension, assuming that the character backstories and such are the same in the Rebuild continuity -- that Yui didn't have family ties to Seele like she did in the TV series? If she did, then why didn't Gendo take her name like he did in the series; presumably, Ikari would be an analogous "nobody name" to Rokubungi under those circumstances.

And, if she didn't have family ties to Seele, then... well... actually, I guess it wouldn't change things too much if Gendo was already involved with Seele before he married her. That change, however, would cast doubt onto the backstories of the other characters that are assumed to be the same as in the TV series, no?

[monitoradiation]

Hold on, really? Then, since Yui took Gendo's name instead, does that mean -- by extension, assuming that the character backstories and such are the same in the Rebuild continuity -- that Yui didn't have family ties to Seele like she did in the TV series? If she did, then why didn't Gendo take her name like he did in the series; presumably, Ikari would be an analogous "nobody name" to Rokubungi under those circumstances.

I think it might be safe to assume that Yui doesn't have the same connection to Seele in Rebuild as she did in NGE. I don't think it made the story stronger either way, to be honest. Having this connection severed streamlined the story a bit. Because now we're no longer wondering which of the Seele was Yui's dad and why they weren't wondering where she went and why did none of them know that she was in Eva-01 (or other minutiae to do with Yui's plans)

And, if she didn't have family ties to Seele, then... well... actually, I guess it wouldn't change things too much if Gendo was already involved with Seele before he married her. That change, however, would cast doubt onto the backstories of the other characters that are assumed to be the same as in the TV series, no?

I think most folks here are very cautious to assume the "settei" of any of the characters to be the same as in NGE, as it were. Asuka is a prime example...

[ShockTrance]

I think it might be safe to assume that Yui doesn't have the same connection to Seele in Rebuild as she did in NGE. I don't think it made the story stronger either way, to be honest. Having this connection severed streamlined the story a bit. Because now we're no longer wondering which of the Seele was Yui's dad and why they weren't wondering where she went and why did none of them know that she was in Eva-01 (or other minutiae to do with Yui's plans)

Ah, that's a very good point. Truthfully, I've wondered the exact same thing myself; I surmised that her father was either one of the unnamed monoliths that wasn't in the Human Instrumentality Committee or some other fairly high-ranked member who wasn't important enough to be in the "Monolith Elites" circle. Regardless, the elimination of her Seele family ties does cut out a lot of needless wondering.

Additionally, if Yui wasn't related to Seele, then it makes sense that she'd marry Gendo -- assuming that she still had plans and an agenda of her own -- and take his name instead, considering that Gendo would have to have his own ties to Seele under these circumstances. How interesting; if this is indeed the case, then their roles are essentially reversed from those of the TV series.

I think most folks here are very cautious to assume the "settei" of any of the characters to be the same as in NGE, as it were. Asuka is a prime example...

True, true. I guess I'm guilty of wanting them to be similar since I'm a diehard fan of the TV series continuity over the Rebuilds. ^^;

[monitoradiation]

Additionally, if Yui wasn't related to Seele, then it makes sense that she'd marry Gendo -- assuming that she still had plans and an agenda of her own -- and take his name instead, considering that Gendo would have to have his own ties to Seele under these circumstances. How interesting; if this is indeed the case, then their roles are essentially reversed from those of the TV series.

I would think that in the Rebuild continuity neither Gendo nor Yui has any actual relations to any of the Seele members. Yui, per the above. But Gendo, when speaking to Seele, neither side showed any kind of affection or favoratism or anything like that.

However, the case still may be that Gendo married Yui to go after her scientific genius; but ended up loving her enough to ditch Seele's original plans.

True, true. I guess I'm guilty of wanting them to be similar since I'm a diehard fan of the TV series continuity over the Rebuilds. ^^;

Well I can only speak for myself in that I'm keeping Rebuild and NGE separate because if I associate them too much and the Rebuild ends up disappointing me, it might taint my memory of the original series.

Personally, I like the manga the best minus a few quibbles at the end.

[Noah]

Well, at least that's how I always interpreted it... I mean, Gendo is clearly subservient and apart from them, he isn't present at most of their meetings, he doesn't even have a monolith...

The way I interpreted it was that the monoliths were basically telecommunication devices. They could serve as screens, but they are in "Sound Only" mode. In episode 01, I believe Gendo uses a monitor to talk to Rei in the same "Sound Only" mode. So somewhere, someone is looking at a monitor and hearing Gendo's voice, possibly with the same "Sound Only" screen and even the same giant monolith avatar/display. On Gendo's end of the "party line", he doesn't need his own monolith.

Obviously this is a little different in Rebuild.

[ElMariachi]

Yui's change of name in Rebuild could be simply to symbolize the fact that Rei II is really considered a part of Gendo's family(unlike in NGE where it was very ambiguous if he saw her as a daughter or a temporary replacement for Yui), and to counterbalance all of the RxS shipping in 2.0 when Yui's maiden name and Rei's status as a clone is revealed to Shinji in 3.0.

On a meta-level, it could also represent the shift on the character's influences toward the plot : in NGE Yui's actions and legacy imbue the whole setting, as Gendo is repetitively seen as obsessed by being reunited with her, and all of her initial plan was ditched by his husband just so he could be with her again.
But in Rebuild, it's the contrary : even though being reunited with is still Gendo's objective, this time it seems to be just one of the many objectives of a bigger plan, and he is the driving force behind the plot : Shinji's coming to Tokyo-3, him being designed as the pilot of EVA-01(something Gendo planned since the very beginning, unlike in NGE where it was just because Rei was wounded and there wasn't any other alternative), Shinji getting closer to Rei was also orchestrated by him, and the paroxysm happens in 3.0 where he became mankind's number 1 enemy, the driving force behind SEELE's plans until he destroy them and hijack all of their resources toward him. Meanwhile, Yui is just a ghost barely spoken about about(seriously, she only alluded in 2.0 during the dinner with Rei, and Fuyu and Gendo talk about her two or three times in 3.0)

[ShockTrance]

So somewhere, someone is looking at a monitor and hearing Gendo's voice, possibly with the same "Sound Only" screen and even the same giant monolith avatar/display. On Gendo's end of the "party line", he doesn't need his own monolith.

Right, we usually see the Seele conferences more or less from Gendo's perspective. It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to say that the other members are also non-monoliths from their own perspectives, with Gendo being another monolith to them. In fact, during EoE, the Seele conference is shown from Keel's perspective, in which he is himself while the other members are monoliths.

The point of this is that Gendo isn't subservient or inferior to the other Seele members; he's merely the executor of the group, the one responsible for carrying out their plans. The fact that we don't see him in monolith form in the conferences is nothing more than a matter of perspective.

But in Rebuild, it's the contrary : even though being reunited with is still Gendo's objective, this time it seems to be just one of the many objectives of a bigger plan, and he is the driving force behind the plot : Shinji's coming to Tokyo-3, him being designed as the pilot of EVA-01(something Gendo planned since the very beginning, unlike in NGE where it was just because Rei was wounded and there wasn't any other alternative), Shinji getting closer to Rei was also orchestrated by him, and the paroxysm happens in 3.0 where he became mankind's number 1 enemy, the driving force behind SEELE's plans until he destroy them and hijack all of their resources toward him. Meanwhile, Yui is just a ghost barely spoken about about(seriously, she only alluded in 2.0 during the dinner with Rei, and Fuyu and Gendo talk about her two or three times in 3.0)

Of course, any plans that Yui might have had must be a long ways off, considering that she's been turned into a power source for the Wunder. Regardless, there's definitely a larger emphasis placed on Gendo and his plans, machinations, objectives, and general control over nearly everything in the Rebuilds than there is on those of Yui (assuming that she had any plans in this continuity).

In fact, now that I consider it, Yui's importance in the Rebuilds' plot is VASTLY diminished. Think about it: The scene where Eva-01 protected Shinji while Sachiel was blasting Tokyo-3 with his eye-beams didn't happen, and Shinji's entrapment within Leliel -- where he sees his mother within the Eva -- is absent. Scenes where Shinji's connection with his mother is shown and developed in the TV series are removed in the Rebuilds. The changing of Yui's name and the implicit removal of her connections to Seele only drive this point home further: In the Rebuilds, it's Gendo who has the connections and the plans.

[Kendrix]

I don't think there's that much thought behind it - The original series had this subplot going on as to wether Gendo actually cared about Yui - As far as Shinji knew/had been told, he "callously used her as a test subject".
When we learn late in the series that he took her name, it's part of the conformation that
a) he did care about her
b) She was, in fact, the mastermind


For Rebuild, the oldfag half of the audience would already know Gendo's story, much like other things that are only shown late (Kaworu, Asuka's inner vulnerability) so "hiding" it again wouldf be silly - instead, Anno just let in the new fans on the dramatic irony, by showing us Asuka brooding in her room, showing Gendo have this Yui flashback at the dinner table, having Shinji have visions of Yui as early as 1.11, putting the grtaveyard conversation earlier in the story etc.

In that sense, revealing Gendo to have taken Yui's name would no longer serve any purpose other than emulating the original; It wouldn't be a surprise or schock of any kind - So Anno just simply chose to focus on underlining the skywalker moment a little more.