explain this
literally jar jar binks
a qt
>>133701966
Well she isn't a metaphor for blacks, so not literally jar jar binks
Shit character introduced just in case Asuka's VA dropped dead mid-recording
The producer wanted a new female pilot
>>133702251
for what purpose?
>>133702383
The purpose of entertaining my dick
>>133702383
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNZove4OTtI
>>133702383
More merch to sell to Otaku, also >>133702222 this
>>133702537
Then she's a failure, because literally no one likes her
>>133702576
Who cares , she sold shit tons of merch when 2.22 came out, before everyone realized she was a shit
>>133702576
Yurifags like her but nobody likes yurifags
>>133702625
>she sold shit tons of merch when 2.22 came out
Source on this? She's always sold poorly. She's a merchandising failure.
Asuka's "Lesbian Expansion Pack" to further popularize her with the yuri-crowd.
Essentially an attempt to boost Asuka's popularity, and it worked.
Fanservice sells.
>>133702772
Asuka was always a lesbian, though
Mari is the key to all of this
>yfw shes the only survivor in 3.0+1.0 end
>>133702856
>>>/u/
Dude stop making this thread.
I've already said that she exists to introduce the hottest plugsuit ever designed, but she only wears it once because Anno is a fag and cares more about his kawoshin fanfiction than my boner.
>>133702710
>>133702576
Not true m8.
Mana? A merchandising failure.
That other girl with the glasses they tried to push, who you don't even know the name of? An extreme failure.
Mari? Quite literally the ONLY character they've ever added to garner any sort of attraction. The EVA-staff admitted that the response to the character was huge, so they upped her scenes in 2.0.
But the real intent, or how the character was used? This: >>133702772
>>133702856
Not to my recollection.
>>133702906
Doesn't this prove my point?
>>133701835
To be Asuka's husband
>>133702936
>the hottest plugsuit ever designed
But that's not Asuka's see-through test plugsuit
You now realize that Rei is the only character left who stands for the quality and values of NGE. Everyone else has been turned into a pandering-device whilst Rei just get shat on.
By having key people like Anno and Tsurumaki reject Rei Ayanami, they also had to reject the original NGE in favor of their doujin-esque new Eva canon.
>>133702937
>Mana?
>That other girl?
Both creations from third-party Bandai, not from Gainax. They never tried to push them.
>the response to the character was huge, so they upped her scenes in 2.0
That was when they showed her for a brief second at the preview at the end of 1.0.
Still to this day she is barely able to sell any merch. Look at all her figures and shit, they're always at the bottom of the list.
>>133702996
>Everyone else has been turned into a pandering-device
>Reifags actually believe this
>>133702997
>Both creations from third-party Bandai, not from Gainax. They never tried to push them.
They most certainly did back in the day, but only as much as their popularity could back them. Mari was popular from the get-go, and they added more of her due to fan reaction not because they wanted to push Mair.
>Still to this day she is barely able to sell any merch. Look at all her figures and shit, they're always at the bottom of the list.
So she's the smallest among giants. Still a giant by any means, considering the competition.
If she was a failure, then she'd go the way of Mana and that-other-girl-with-the-glasses, oblivion. Mari makes it to the top "three" waifus now, being represented in each new thing.
Mari might be shit, but she's hit a niche.
>>133703064
>there are people who actually don't believe this
>>133703115
The unfortunate truth is that Anno became George Lucas, and either people accept that as a fact of their reality or they don't.
>>133702996
>>133703064
Name one other character that's as shat on as Rei in either movie or by the writers, name one character who even the voice actor now thinks is pointless due to how doomed it is.
You can't, and by process of elimination combined with the fact that Asuka and the rest are mega-pandering devices, it's true that Rei is the only one left out.
>>133703075
>They most certainly did back in the day
Source on this. Because one of them is in one game and the other is in two games. Never again are they pushed, especially not by Gainax. It was all Bandai's invention.
>and they added more of her due to fan reaction
From the preview, sure. But she still didn't sell shit once they got to know her in 2.0.
>oblivion
Which she pretty much is. No one is buying her.
>Mari makes it to the top "three" waifus now
She's getting less figures than fucking Shinji. No one wants her.
>>133703176
>She's getting less figures than fucking Shinji.
>>133703115
>>133703162
You said everyone else is a pandering device.
You're forgetting that Touji, Kaji, Fuyutsuki, Shinji, Ritsuko, and Misato are all characters that exist and are far better characters than one-dimensional Rei.
>>133703156
You can't just compare him to "George Lucas" just because "George Lucas" is a negative remark. Not that there aren't similarities, but Anno is his own special kind of bad.
Anno is more of an otaku-type person, and that's why you don't see George Lucas remaking the original so that his own personal favorite characters are turned into half-mary sues.
>>133703217
So one picture of a figure somehow proves me wrong?
I could post the Shinji figures that came from that same event if you want.
All I want is for Hikari to get the attention she deserves, is that really so much to ask?
>>133703258
Post them. They just announced a new doll for her.
>>133703243
Anno made more NGE to milk a popular franchise he believed was dumb like how Lucas made more Star Wars movies to milk a popular franchise he believed was dumb. The only real difference is Anno doesn't know when to stop.
>>133703176
>Source on this. Because one of them is in one game and the other is in two games. Never again are they pushed, especially not by Gainax. It was all Bandai's invention.
The distinction between Gainax/Bandai is irrelevant. They are "never again pushed" because they weren't popular.
Mari was. You'd bet that the characters like Sakura and whatsherface would be pushed a well if fan reception had been up there, something it obviously wasn't.
>From the preview, sure. But she still didn't sell shit once they got to know her in 2.0.
>She's getting less figures than fucking Shinji. No one wants her.
Now you're lying.
Wonderfest is filled with Mari figures and she is always represented in figure lines, whereas Shinji is not.
>>133703258
>>133703282
http://www.evastore.jp/pc/article/I1000502.html
>>133703271
Hikari isn't even a character.
>>133703243
Anno is making rebuild to fund his personal projects and getting some trust from the big shots from the industry. See Animator Expo and the upcoming Godzilla movie directed by Anno, neither would happen without Rebuild
>>133703301
It's not that easy. If he made more NGE just to milk he'd go for a more straight forward approach and make a more balanced, albeit possibly bland NGE.
Rebuild and all Khara releases ALL have one thing in common that also sets it apart from the original, the characters Anno likes are always portrayed better than in NGE and more importantly, as better off than Rei.
To rehash NGE is a no-brainer. But Anno needs to not only re-hash it, but to twist it so that the public will like the character he likes.
>>133701835
She is literally "le ebin twist character".
She will be useless through out most of the movies and in the very last one it will be reveiled that she actually was super important all alooooooong.
Anno will pat himself on the back for coming up with something so original and go back to collecting checks and directing that Godzilla movie like the hack that he is.
>>133701835
For me she doesn't exist, so I have nothing to explain.
>>133701835
Triple agent for Gendo.
>>133703387
Rebuild 1.0 was the closest to NGE and it sold the worst out of all the Rebuilds thus far.
>>133703352
That's not true at all. I don't know who lied to you, or if you made that out to be an Anno apologist, but here's the facts:
Khara, Rebuild and everything related to it was funded 100% from the get go by the money Evangelion made. They don't lack resources or money, Evangelion is a huge money-maker and that's why Anno says he made Khara and Rebuild without accepting any funds from investors and that the budget is "virtually limitless".
Animator Expo is jointly funded with someone else, and doesn't take much to fund in the first place.
Godzilla 2016 is a production made by Toho not Khara or Gainax, and Anno was through Higuchi allowed to direct it. Khara or Anno does not own Godzilla.
Anno is making Rebuild for two reasons:
1- Make money (duh, what isn't made to make money?)
2- To popularize his own favorite characters
That's the entire secret behind Rebuild. There is nothing else.
>>133703478
Then how come he had to rely on merchandising money to fund 1.0 and 2.0?
>>133703466
Several reasons for that, it's simply just a rehash with some dumb bits added, and in terms of marketing Rebuild 1.0 was just weak. The hype from 1.0 gave more momentum to the 2.0 release, just like 2.0 hyped up 3.0 beyond belief as well.
>>133703530
You said to milk NGE it's enough to just to do it straightforward, but that's wrong since 1.0 sold the worst.
>>133703517
>Then how come he had to rely on merchandising money to fund 1.0 and 2.0?
He didn't.
Like I said, 1.0 and Khara was funded from the get go with Anno's personal pocket money and presumably, others. That's why he is the CEO of Khara. He owns Rebuild, he owns the studio, and unless his new partnership with DWANGO changed that, he answers to no one but himself.
All merchanding is under the direction and control of Studio Khara. They own the product and can license it out however they want.
All merchandising is done to both increase awareness of the new Evangelion as well as earn a serious amount of money.
>>133702222
Wait, what?
>>133703587
>You said to milk NGE it's enough to just to do it straightforward, but that's wrong since 1.0 sold the worst.
No, that's not what I said, and to boot, 1.0 selling "the worst" doesn't mean what you think it means. Consider the advertising and momentum of the franchise.
What I said was
>If he made more NGE just to milk he'd go for a more straight forward approach and make a more balanced, albeit possibly bland NGE
which means not a 1:1 rehash, but it means he'd avoid things like a 14 year long timeskip and a wholly lopsided portrayal of NGE's characters. How is it lucrative to alienate the entire Rei fanbase for instance, and more or less declare one of it's most popular character's dead?
Rebuild is far from straight forward, it has an agenda and Anno's desire to redistribute the popularity of the character is it.
>>133701835
IIIIIIIII liiiiiike ruuuuusty booooobs.
>>133703734
FUUUUUUCK
>>133703311
>>133703282
>>133703258
Not him but Mari really does have more figures, she's got far more than Shinji (if we consider the starting point of counting from the date her first figure hits). That means in the time inbetween then and there, Mari shits on Shinji in terms of figures and not to mention sales.
Shinji is the main character.
>>133703785
That faggot is too retarded to do a quick search in mfc before talking.
Anno was tempted and finally seduced by the dark side of the force.
He was a gifted man in terms of directorial talent, and many saw great potential in him. But he was plagued by dreams, otaku dreams, the fear of other otaku and the public rejecting his own views and opinions. That fear and insecurity led to anger. His anger led him to hate, and his hate caused the suffering of his own franchise and fans.
Unable to bear the defeat against Rei, thinking that from his point of view, Japan was evil for having chosen Rei over Asuka, he set out to create the Rebuild movies and Khara.
>>133703620
>He didn't
Then how come there's all that product placement in 1.0 and 2.0? He needed to include that for money, but no longer needed to with 3.0.
>>133703722
>Consider the advertising and momentum of the franchise
This just sounds like you're reaching.
>but it means he'd avoid things like a 14 year long timeskip and a wholly lopsided portrayal of NGE's character
Even though this sells better than 1.0, which is a rehash of NGE?
>to alienate the entire Rei fanbase for instance
Perhaps they weren't giving enough money, I don't know.
>declare one of it's most popular character's dead
Kaworu also died in NGE, so this isn't a revolutionary thing or anything.
>>133704125
No, he didn't. The product placement is something Anno placed there himself to make money. Yes, he chose to have product placement in these movies to make more money off it.
No, he didn't have to do that, considering he has himself said just that.
3.0 has product placements like phones for instance, and made outfits to merchandise itself.
Stop telling yourself a lie.
>>133704207
>This just sounds like you're reaching.
No, it's just basic logic and facts concerning the marketing and advertising of products in a franchise.
>Even though this sells better than 1.0, which is a rehash of NGE?
1.0 being a rehash or not was as previously stated, not relevant to the point.
>Perhaps they weren't giving enough money, I don't know.
Even if that was true, then alienating them would provide even less money.
>Kaworu also died in NGE, so this isn't a revolutionary thing or anything.
Kaworu was not a popular character by the time he died, and never became as popular as either Shinji, Rei or Asuka.
Logically and reasonably, you've got nothing to counter with.
>>133704231
>Yes, he chose to have product placement in these movies to make more money off it.
Then he would have done the deals with the same people he did them with in NGE. Instead we have doritos in Misato's fridge because those are the brands who would give him money.
>3.0 has product placements like phones for instance, and made outfits to merchandise itself
There's no phones or outfits in 3.0
>>133704207
Rei is often cited as the "Premium Girl", whose products always outsell everything else. To date the most expensive EVA item I know of is a pair of Rei Ayanami guitars, selling for 100K USD each. Yes, a hundred thousand USD.
Plus by alienating them, they only stand to lose MORE.
1.0 sells poorly simply because it's the first in the series and everyone believes it's just a rehash.
2.0 sells more because it is better and widely marketed, and this happens after "Evangelion is BACK" with 1.0, which also provided lots of speculah material.
3.0 actually ends up selling less than 2.0 when it comes to BD's and DVD's, never even topping 2.0's first-week sales until this year. Yes, 2.0 sold as much in it's first week as 3.0 did in total.
But in the cinemas, 3.0 opens up far bigger than 2.0 because of the hype generated by 2.0.
That's just logical, 1.0 made people excited for 2.0, and 2.0 made people excited for 3.0, and well, 3.0.... the opinion is split but plenty are still excited.
Not to mention the advertising of 3.0 was HUGE, including live screenings of trailers in streets of Japan and an exclusive tie-in with nico-nico. The whole page changed to be named "Q" before 3.0 released and had exclusive videos detailing the upcoming movie.
>Kaworu
Nobody knew who the guy was much less cared until they actually watched NGE. Do you not get how living and experiencing time linearly works?
>>133704327
>then alienating them would provide even less money
Then doesn't that prove that Anno isn't doing it for money?
>Kaworu was not a popular character by the time he died
So then why did you bring it up in the first place?
>>133704442
>Then he would have done the deals with the same people he did them with in NGE. Instead we have doritos in Misato's fridge because those are the brands who would give him money.
Everyone wants to get their hands on EVA because of it's merchandising power. I don't even think you know what you're talking about, you're reaching hard and it doesn't even make sense.
There is no "well he wouldn't because x or y", we know for a fact that he did what he did. He's said himself that he did not accept money from investors in funding EVA or 1.0, he funded it himself. That means the product placement is there to make more money, plain and simple.
>There's no phones or outfits in 3.0
Cat hats and jerseys + the phone asuka uses when rushing to the scene at the wunder.
>>133704521
>Then doesn't that prove that Anno isn't doing it for money?
It proves that he isn't just doing it for money, which is my point. He's also doing it to support his favorite characters, and also make money.
The two aren't mutually exclusive.
>So then why did you bring it up in the first place?
I didn't. >>133704207 did. Didn't mention the guys name at all.
>>133702996
>Reifags still wonder why people shit on them
>>133704597
>He's said himself that he did not accept money from investors in funding EVA or 1.0, he funded it himself
Show me where he said that
>Cat hats and jerseys + the phone asuka uses when rushing to the scene at the wunder.
Those aren't product placements. They're products that were later made into merchandise.
>>133704651
>and also make money
Then why alienate Ray fans if they bring in more money?
>Didn't mention the guys name at all
I assumed it was him because no one else popular has died so far
>>133704707
Because non-reifags are butthurt about the truth and attacks Reifags.
>>133704517
Eh, this is just a lot of fanwank and reaching.
>>133704707
Even the master shits on them. Why do they still exist?
>>133704717
>Then why alienate Ray fans if they bring in more money?
Because Anno simply does not want Rei to be liked or popular, he wants characters like Asuka or Kaworu, even Misato to be popular.
>I assumed it was him because no one else popular has died so far
Hello, Rei?
>>133702222
No, seriously, what?
>>133704750
It's called logic. What you just posted, was called denial.
>>133704717
>He's said himself that he did not accept money from investors in funding EVA or 1.0, he funded it himself
Give me a moment.
>Those aren't product placements. They're products that were later made into merchandise.
The phone is a product, and they are products made merchandise.
>>133704728
Irony.
>>133704717
It's no secret Anno doesn't care about Rei and would rather make money on Asuka and Kaworu instead. To do that, he has to shove Rei to the side and rewrite the story in a way that those two are always getting the best end of the deal.
You apparently did not catch Rei dying two times in NGE and in every spinoff since then, including Rebuild. That said, what I actually wrote was
>and more or less declare one of it's most popular character's dead?
which means that as a character, the character is "declared dead" in the sense that it's not going to go anywhere from the point on.
>>133704763
>he wants characters like Asuka or Kaworu, even Misato to be popular
And what's wrong with that? They're good characters.
>Hello, Rei?
Rei didn't die
>>133704802
>The phone is a product
But there's no brand, so it's not product placement like the doritos and canned coffee from the previous movies.
>>133704868
There's more pictures of Rei getting beaten by Asuka out there if you're wondering. Not really ironic.
>>133702996
>Everyone else has been turned into a pandering-device whilst Rei just get shat on.
Rei doesn't need to be turned into one because she already was and Anno hated Reifags for it. Only thing left at that point was to shit on her for the reasons people are shitting on the rest of the cast.
>>133704942
Yeah right.
>>133704767
Probably just a mad Reifag.
>>133704802
>>133704935
Here's the quote:
>-- The production cost of the new works has been entirely financed by Studio Khara, without inviting contributions from outside investors. They are so-called "independently produced works." Why this type of approach?
>Anno: If I accept investments from outsiders, then I face the limitation of having to make a cost-effective work. By using my own money, in all aspects I can take responsibility and do what I want. We have staff for distribution and advertisment as well, but ultimately I am responsible. I don't want to make excuses like, "the finished work was excellent but the advertising was poor."
>And what's wrong with that? They're good characters.
It's wrong because then you're writing fanservice trash rather than good characters. They aren't good characters in Rebuild.
>Rei didn't die
Looks dead to me. Besides Rei died like twice or so in NGE, if you bring up Kaworu then you're just extremely narrowminded.
>>133704881
I don't see much wrong with this because Rei hardly had a presence in NGE anyway.
As we say in Hartford: "Nothing of value was lost"
>>133701835
Rebuildchildren
>>133704947
Rei was never a pandering device, that's just your own hate talking. Not only that, it's completely backwards because then his response would be to make all the other characters pandering devices, in a way no other character from the original NGE ever was.
Anno hates Reifags/Rei for the same reason you do, you don't like that it's more popular than your own favorite character and that the character is on paper, more successful than the character you like.
>>133705098
>more successful than the character you like
As fap material? Yeah you win.
>>133705025
I searched this quote and then got this:
>Anno is in a very lucky position with his Rebuild of Evangelion films. He is producing new, popular and highly-anticipated content for a proven money-maker of a franchise that can be milked for promotion and merchandise pretty much endlessly. All of those Evangelion-related tie ins with everything from UCC Coffee to All Nippon Airways? That's not considered marketing for Evangelion, Studio Khara actually got paid for those. Those campaigns, as silly as they sometimes appear, actually help get those films made. All that money from merchandise and those campaigns and revenue from previous films add up to what is ostensibly enough money to finance the next one.
>>133705032
Rei is one of the four main characters and has a large presence thematically and plotwise, i.e without Rei there is no NGE much less any story.
I suspect you're a Kaworu fan or an Asuka fan that's welcoming the changes and the reduction of Rei for your own gain.
>>133705153
That's commentary from a third party who quite clearly, has not seen this quote: >>133705025
What Anno says about real-world matters, what's said by a japanese interviewer with insight into Khara's financial situation, is what's true here.
Not some nobody on an anime page who is just speaking wantonly.
You've been given the quote from Anno so you should really accept that you're wrong on this matter.
What's keeping you?
>>133705155
I just got into the show last month, I liked everyone but Rei was a forgettable minor character to me. I was surprised she was so popular, but then I read its because otaku like characters like her.
I wanted to see what the threads are like on /a/ but they seem pretty bad. It's like they discuss everything in Eva that I'm not interested in.
>>133705134
>>133705032
That's the same line of thinking otaku have, and is probably the reason the Rebuilds suck as much as they do.
You can't deal with a character like Rei being legitimately better liked and more interesting than your own favorite character, so you need to belittle it.
That's why Anno made the Rebuilds the way he did, because he couldn't deal with it.
All it shows is that Asuka fans and Kaworu fans (to no one's surprise concerning the latter) never really cared about the quality of it's characters, only it's popularity and moe characteristics.
>>133705257
If that's what you got out of it, then you didn't pay attention and quite clearly didn't understand any of it. What exactly is it that you are interested in about Evangelion any way?
>>133705280
Actually I think the Rebuilds are heading in a better direction by minimizing the screentime of pandering characters like Rei.
>>133701835
There's not a lot too explain. It's been beaten to death and stated again multiple times in this thread. She was created to sell figures. That's all.
>>133705306
I did, it was very easy to understand.
I like Evangelion for what it is, not the waifuwars that everyone seems to like so much. I find that stupid.
But Rei was definitely an otaku character, that much is easy to see. I'd say her fans are the ones who didn't pay attention.
>>133705257
Then you're in the minority. Not only is Rei Evangelion's most iconic character, but it's also the most well-remembered one to the point that the "old Rei" remains more popular than any new variant than ever was.
It's not just an otaku thing, there's more otaku into Asuka or Kaworu than Rei these days. Anno describes the attraction to Rei as a "national phenomenon", and he's not exaggerating.
>>133705280
I think you're taking this the wrong way.
I myself like Rei in NGE but I hate the fact that her popularity sprung up because of otaku shits making a big deal out of her being the perfect emotionless waifu. This worked to her character's detriment (as well as many others) to the point that we got what we got in the Rebuild films.
>>133705098
>Rei was never a pandering device
Remember that time you fapped to 2.0
>>133705351
I'd say you aren't making any arguments, much less reflecting reality very well.
>>133705358
Actually it says in this official three part video that Rei is a poor otaku character:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdadTN2rYxw
Where's that post about "my fanfic character that's the best pilot, uses Unit 02 much better than that bitch Asuka and is also a spy"
>>133705397
I'm the one of us two who saw NGE, so I'd say I'm the one with the true grasp on reality. I also have the evidence to prove it from what I've read on the show.
>>133705416
It's not official but contains a lot of disinformation from ADV.
>>133705416
>poor otaku character
Anno and merchandising say otherwise
>>133705446
Then why don't you post said evidence? You've got none.
>>133705458
Eh, it's an official company.
Seems like you're trying to reach for straws and excuse it because you don't like the truth.
>>133705467
They say she is otaku character though. Didn't you also prove it with the guitar statement?
>>133705485
Okay:
>Rei is an anti-heroine, much like all the other characters in the series. She is a beautiful, mysterious fourteen-year-old who shows no emotions and acts more like a robot than a human being most of the time. She is very quiet makes only pithy remarks, if she speaks at all. The female characters in Evangelion are adorable in their own ways – the tardy but motherly Misato, the feisty but insecure Asuka – but it is Rei that changes the rules and revolutionizes the anime industry.
>When referring to a ‘mysterious character’ in the pre-Evangelion era, it was usually about someone with a twisted and often tragic past that would be slowly revealed as the plot progressed. What is mysterious about Rei is that she has no past. We learn in episode five that all records of her past have been erased from the database of NERV, the organization that develops the giant mecha known as evangelions. This generates the sense of mysteriousness surrounding the character, and has become a major talking point as the series goes on.
>Personality-wise, she is socially detached, talks to nobody, and carries a dull expression all the time. Unlike traditional female protagonists who are usually strong, caring and charismatic (like those we see in productions of Studio Ghibli), Rei is the complete opposite. It is a different kind of charisma that makes her popular. She gives fans plenty rooms of imagination on what she really thinks and feels. It also makes fans sit on the edge of their seats whenever she makes an appearance, since it is hard to predict what she will do. After all, who knows what she is thinking?
>Then there is the famous “Ayanami Rei’s smile” scene at the end of episode six. We learn that it is not the case that she cannot feel emotions, but she just does not know how to express them. Facing a crying Shinji who is glad that she is alive after a big fight, she says, ‘I don’t know what to feel at times like this.’
>>133705359
I think you're deliberately taking this in the wrong way.
You might like Rei, but Rei's popularity is not due to "otaku shits" but a wide reception from the audience that has set it's mark on Japan as a whole, otaku and non-otaku alike.
It's an undisputed fact that making Rei merely a "emotionless waifu" in spinoffs always worsens the character. This is reflected in the popularity of the character, not to mention the wide rejection of "new Rei" in 3.0, who is the most emotionless Rei we've seen.
What you're doing is creating a strawman you can attack, the idea of the "weak emotionless Rei who only follow orders", so you can criticize it. But it's been shown again and again that nobody likes that Rei, and it's not even reflective of the Rei in NGE.
Let's say you wanted to "fix" that, wouldn't you make Rei less emotionless or more proactive? Instead Anno and people who actively dislike Rei always make out the character to be emotionless/weak while the fans portray a stronger Rei more canon to the original.
>>133705535
>Shinji replies, ‘with a smile’, and smile she does, after a minute of hesitation. The scene is so powerful and iconic because that is the first time she has deliberately shown an emotion, and one of the handful of times she has done so throughout the whole series.
>Rei can be considered as the prototypical ‘mukuchi’ character, meaning ‘mouth-less’. It is a term used by anime fans to describe characters who do not speak unless necessary and show no emotions when speaking, and is considered to be a moe element. They have a monotone voice and speak to-the-point, avoiding unnecessary conversations. Rei has popularized this moe element, and we later see characters like Yuki Nagato from The Melancholy of Haruhi Sumuziya, Lain from Serial Experiments Lain, Eve from Black Cat, and Ai Emma from Hell Girl all fitting into this ‘mukuchi’ category. Mukuchi characters sell, and they are immensely popular among anime fans.
>Doujin-friendly
>Sex sells. It is a very simple rule in business. Rei is a fourteen-year-old school girl with a pretty face and a well-developed body. Along with her mysteriousness, she is a character that can give viewers lots of rooms to fantasize about. Developers hence can create many Rei-related products for sale. Her image also printed on stationary, posters, shirts and various accessories. Figures of Rei and many characters (in swimsuits and/or suggestive postures) are manufactured in huge amounts. These products sell really well. Before Evangelion, anime merchandises were not considered a big market for producers to profit on. However, it changed when Evangelion came out. Rei expands the market, and Gainax capitalizes on that.
>One thing that I think Rei popularizes is the bandage look. In the first episode she is seen being wrapped in bandages as she is badly injured, inducing a sense of sympathy in Shinji. It also creates an image of her needing protection from others
>>133704767
Her VA has Graves' disease. Apparently she had problems doing Asuka's voice for the latest SRW.
>>133705535
That isn't "evidence" from the series, and it doesn't agree with you either.
>>133705586
>in a way inducing protectiveness mainly among male viewers, the target fan base of Rei. Gainax, for sure, will not let such a fat chance go. Author Kazuhisa Fujie wrote that “figures of Rei, in her bandaged beauty, sold like wild fire”, and that the bandaged Rei figure outsold all other merchandizes. The bandage look has now become almost a trademark image of her, and a common feature in cosplays.
>Evangelion is a very doujin-friendly series, for many scenes are not explained in details that fans can create their own versions of what the scenes entail. Rei’s mysteriousness definitely helps in this aspect, as she allows fans to write about many ‘what-if’ scenarios, especially her relationships with other characters. The last episode of Evangelion also contains an alternate universe plot-line where Rei is an outgoing girl, almost as if Gainax is making a doujin out of its own work and encouraging fans to make their own. Furthermore, Rei is a common character used in hentai doujin (fan-made comics with erotic content). A simulation game called ‘Ayanami Nurturing Project’ allows gamers to take care of Rei’s daily schedule and develops romantic relations with her. Sex sells, and it sells really well.
>Die and Let Die
>All characters in Evangelion have encountered their own existential crisis during the series. They all struggle with reality and ask themselves what they are fighting for. Rei faces no such problem. In fact, she does not wonder why she is alive, but question why she does not die yet. An anti-climax for an anti-herione
>>133705535
>>133705586
Anon, you might as well post something from /a/ or a blog. Clearly this isn't taken from the series but another site.
>>133705614
>Throughout the series she has dropped hints of her indifference to living, and has engaged in drastic acts that could have cost her life. Unlike other characters, she does not care if she dies. In a way one can say she is very nihilistic, but viewers only understand why she embraces death by episode twenty-three. In that episode, Rei self-explodes her evangelion to defeat an angel. (Coincidentally, the background music being played at that scene is titled ‘Thanatos’, a Freudian term that refers to the death drive propelling humans to engage in life-threatening acts.) When she miraculously ‘survives’, it is explained that Rei is actually a human clone of Shinji’s mother, Yui Ikari (who ‘died’ when Shinji was young), made to activate Gendo’s Human Instrumentality Project. That’s why she does not care, as she could be easily replaced by a dummy if she dies. To a certain degree, she embraces death, as if dying is the only way to prove that she has lived.
>If we boldly put this into context of 1990s Japan, known as the ‘Lost Decade’ after the economic bubble burst in the decade, it is not hard to see why Rei is so popular among Japanese teenagers, as they could relate to her: there were no goals for them to pursue, and they were severely damaged psychologically. Living or dying did not seem like a big concern when they thought they were living lifelessly anyway.
>Interestingly, the name ‘Rei’ also means ‘zero’. It’s almost echoing the nothingness she feels.
>>133705657
>Oedipus complex revisited
Being the clone of Ikari Yui explains and complicates Shinji’s affection towards Rei, which shows a degree of Oedipus complex in his case. In Freudian psychoanalysis, Oedipus complex refers to the young boy’s desire to have a sexual relation with his mother, and sees his father as a competitor for her affection. From the beginning, Shinji has a very strained relationship with Gendo, and if Rei is the clone of his mother, then Shinji fits perfectly into this Freudian case. In episode six, when Shinji wakes up he thinks he sees his mother by his side, but it turns out to be Rei, who is watching him.
>The role of Rei then becomes ambiguous. She now not only is a friend and a potential love interest, but also a motherly figure that Shinji lacks when growing up. Much of this relates to Shinji’s tension with Gendo, who sends Shinji away after Yui’s death. During the Lost Decade many fathers were seldom home as they had to work or pretended to work (to avoid the shame of others knowing they were unemployed), and the mothers became the children’s support. In The End of Evangelion, Shinji explores his existential crisis with Rei, a scene that can be seen as a mother-to-son talk as Rei asks Shinji what he really wants. She is almost guiding him into making his decision on accepting the Human Instrumentality Project or not. Rei and Yui could now be seen as one.
>Much like Radiohead’s Kid A, Evangelion and Rei have been discussed so thoroughly and obsessively by, well, everyone that it is hard to find something totally original to say. I can only try to, perhaps unjustly, narrow the reasons and impact of Rei’s popularity into the mentioned categories. Obviously, there is a lot more to say about them, but I’ll refrain myself from turning this into a 30-page essay.
>>133705497
>Eh, it's an official company.
It's not an official company any more than Funimation is. Many of the things being mentioned in that video that are unrelated to Rei, have been shown to be entirely wrong.
>Seems like you're trying to reach for straws and excuse it because you don't like the truth.
The truth is contained in the anime series and factual observations, statistics and whatnot from the real world. All of which contradict you and your strawmen.
>>133705416
>anything from ADV
>official
>>133705689
>>133705657
>>133705614
>>133705586
This just details a very unique and rich character.
>>133705784
So you agree that Rei is an otaku character, then
>>133705368
>>133705307
You say this despite Rei being the least pandering character in all of Rebuild?
It hasn't minimized Rei's screentime, it has just shoved it aside and trivialized it. Despite this, Rei has more character development over three movies than Asuka and Kaworu combined.
There's more pathos connected to the character than the other two, on all levels it's still a better character.
What you're actually saying is that you're enjoying the Asuka/Kaworu pandering of Rebuild and will go to any length, tell any lie to defend it rather than be honest about what you like about it.
>Be me, confused as to who that is.
>Click thread
>See people talking about Rei and Eva
>Image search the picture to find out this girl is from the Eva reloaded movies
Happy I never seen this filth.
>>133705891
>despite Rei being the least pandering character in all of Rebuild
Rei has no character or personality, all she has is pandering.
By getting rid of her in 3.0, the series has become more tasteful.
>>133705866
If detailed and rich characters means "otaku character" then I guess I do.
Rei didn't become as popular as she is today and back in the 90's by just appealing to otaku. There's a reason Rei is the franchise's face outwards even in a time where the "main new canon" seems to do everything it can to subvert Rei.
Rei's VA Hayashibara stated after 3.0 that "it was pointless to speculate about Rei further due to how bad things would get", and moreover characterizes as someone who is deliberately made abject in a book interview that came out this year.
Even despite this, Rei still features as it's face along with the original EVA01 and maybe the Lance of Longinus. The only different arena is things that sell to otaku, merchandise and whatnot.
>>133701835
i really would rather not
>>133705974
That's a blatant lie, and the fact remains that no matter how little "character" or "personality" you think Rei has, Asuka and Kaworu have objectively LESS in this Rebuild series. They have less development.
Were you a real fan, you'd see this for the tragedy that it is, that a character like Rei who is deliberately trodden down is still better than the rest, rather than sell your own favorite character/franchise out for a chance at being more validated by the community.
>>133705983
>Along with her mysteriousness, she is a character that can give viewers lots of rooms to fantasize about. Developers hence can create many Rei-related products for sale. Her image also printed on stationary, posters, shirts and various accessories. Figures of Rei and many characters (in swimsuits and/or suggestive postures) are manufactured in huge amounts. These products sell really well. Before Evangelion, anime merchandises were not considered a big market for producers to profit on. However, it changed when Evangelion came out. Rei expands the market, and Gainax capitalizes on that.
>One thing that I think Rei popularizes is the bandage look. In the first episode she is seen being wrapped in bandages as she is badly injured, inducing a sense of sympathy in Shinji. It also creates an image of her needing protection from others in a way inducing protectiveness mainly among male viewers, the target fan base of Rei
>te their own versions of what the scenes entail. Rei’s mysteriousness definitely helps in this aspect, as she allows fans to write about many ‘what-if’ scenarios, especially her relationships with other characters. The last episode of Evangelion also contains an alternate universe plot-line where Rei is an outgoing girl, almost as if Gainax is making a doujin out of its own work and encouraging fans to make their own. Furthermore, Rei is a common character used in hentai doujin (fan-made comics with erotic content). A simulation game called ‘Ayanami Nurturing Project’ allows gamers to take care of Rei’s daily schedule and develops romantic relations with her. Sex sells, and it sells really well.
>>133706063
>They have less development
Development means jack shit if you don't have characterization in the first place. Something Rei desperately needs.
>deliberately trodden down
You can't trod down something that was trodden down to begin with. Even Anno forgot about her during production. That's how invaluable she was.
Even minor characters like Toji served more purpose and were better than her. A shame that he got cut out and Rei got kept in; as that is pandering and what otaku want.
>>133704881
>It's no secret Anno doesn't care about Rei and would rather make money on Asuka and Kaworu instead
So would everyone else, apparently:
http://members.mhf-g.jp/campaign/evangelion/camp02/index.html
>>133706128
>Development means jack shit if you don't have characterization in the first place. Something Rei desperately needs.
Rei also has more characterization over the course of these two movies. Development furthers characterization as well.
As much as you might claim Rei needs characterization, the others are in far more need.
Here's a sad but very real scenario: Rei is brought back from "stasis" in 4.0, and develops until the end from her 2.0 state. Were this to happen, Rei would be along with Shinji the only internally consistent character. That's sad, because Evangelion should aim higher than that.
>You can't trod down something that was trodden down to begin with. Even Anno forgot about her during production. That's how invaluable she was.
So invaluable that she ended up making more appearances and was in fact a central line of the story's themes and it's conclusion, for herself and the main character(s).
Everyone knows Anno says demeaning things about Rei after NGE, he also does demeaning things to Rei in the form of spinoffs and Rebuild.
Regardless of how much you lie to demean Rei yourself, it's not biting because any Eva fan who isn't helplessly biased knows you're wrong. Even making up stuff like how Toji was "cut" because of Rei(???) isn't furthering your cause, especially when Rebuild specifically cuts Toji in favor of Asuka.
>>133706254
The "everyone" you refer to is indeed Khara (AKA Anno) making the deals they want with the products they want.
Everything in that trailer is the product of their new movies, and from it their agenda should be clear: notice how two characters in particular are given far more EVA's, weaponry and fluff than others?
Rei's EVA doesn't even have it's most popular color-scheme.
Although, that said, I believe Monster Hunter or was it PSO already had a Rei outfit far before the rest had. So even then these are relative latecomers to the EVA-party, and they're also the push in a new direction that serves just to pander, displacing character over popularity.
>>133706275
>Rei also has more characterization over the course of these two movies
Of course you think so because you're biased. But she's a noncharacter.
Rei only works as a plot device, and they kept her as one with 3.0. Just like NGE. There is no difference.
>Anno says demeaning things about Rei after NGE
Because he knows she's a noncharacter.
>>133706425
>Of course you think so because you're biased. But she's a noncharacter.
This isn't something you can be biased about. A character that continues over two movies in a consistent manner trump characters that only do so for one, and Rei is further characterized in 3.0 through having her past and details explained.
So while you'd like to believe there's "no difference", it's clearly not the truth and what's worse, what would that make the other characters? They hardly rank as plot devices even, are they just pandering objects?
>Because he knows she's a noncharacter.
He wants to make Rei a non-character, much like you do.
But Rei is less of a non-character than Kaworu or Asuka is in Rebuilds. You've sold out Evangelion for a change in popularity.Also, it won't bite on me if you attack Rei with false claims and lies like that, because I already know that's what you want to be true. It's already assumed, so all that's left for you is to admit that rather than keep up a charade nobody believes.
>>133701835
>>133706655
Just thought to look for this; thanks man.
>>133706546
I don't see why you're so angry over consistency.
Rei was objectively shit in NGE and she's in objectively shit in Rebuild.
Maybe if they gave her a personality beyond kuudere with mysterious past I'd give a shit. But just shoving pretentious quotes in her mouth and giving her plot twists up the ass as her 'background' is just shit characterization.
No wonder Anno forgot about her and was unsatisfied with her. He knew she was lacking compared to the other characters.
And everyone praising her for superficial traits and otaku shit just angers him because they're ignoring the actually good characters like Shinji and Misato and Asuka
>>133706546
>that spoiler
Nah, you're probably seething at the mouth because you know it's true. If it wasn't, why would everyone say the same things about Rei all across the world?
