#keyboardlord

[welcometothe3rdimpact]

nge HAPPENS IN 2015

Sorry, 2014 has been cancelled due to a scheduling error. Happy New Year 2015!

[justngethings]

what is your opinion on rei.

rei was a big, big question mark to me for the longest time. i think that at that time, in my case, the best words to describe her would be unrelatable and intimidating. she didn’t quite fit in with the other characters (that’s the point, of course) and i was never sure of her being human, robotic, ghostly, inhuman, etc. especially as an emotive person, it was hard for me to personally identify with her. there are so many things to be said about rei, but i think this time (since you asked for my personal opinion), i’ll focus on talking about her intangibility (and how that changes). 

as i said, i’m pretty sure this is intentional. anno intended to start her off as the unfeeling, detached puppet. she seems neither selfish nor selfless because neither of those words apply — i think that at least in the beginning of the series rei sincerely believes that she is worth nothing.her mantra seems to be “i don’t care." got slapped? whatever. got yelled at? whatever. got injured? whatever. die? there’ll be a replacement; it simply doesn’t matter. 

she’s the polar opposite of asuka. in terms of self-awareness, take this: when shinji sees asuka naked, she reacts as she, or any girl really, typically would — get very embarrassed, get a little angry, retreat right away. on the other hand, rei goes completely against this normality of modesty — when shinji trips over her and lands on top of her, she stands up, naked, seemingly completely unaware or indifferent to her exposure, and calmly dresses

we know that there are three reis: the first was killed by naoko akagi, the second sacrificed herself in episode 23, and the third rei lasts until the end of the series. in each incarnation, she is influenced in different ways which later shape how she thinks and feels. in the first, she’s a mere child: impressionable and young. she seems prim enough when gendo first introduces her to naoko, but we see later that rei I calls naoko an “old hag” and states that gendo is just using her, revealing naoko’s biggest fears; moreover, naoko instantly recognizes rei as a virtual clone of yui, and so rei’s insults really drive home the fact that naoko will never be number one in gendo’s eyes. one can’t help but wonder if those words were implanted in rei, and she was used as a mere messenger to carry out gendo’s plan. 

rei II is the one we meet at the beginning of the series, and while she seems cold and aloof her relationship with shinji begins to thaw her. she seems confused by emotions, completely indifferent to/unaware of any of asuka’s anger, bitterness, and jealousy. the only person she seems to have a strong connection with is gendo, whose glasses she keeps in her apartment. it seems like she is investing all of herself to gendo’s cause — why? — to feel some sort of purpose in her existence. 

episode 23 — ah. the one where rei cries and gets tentacled (not sexual at all) and gets to psychoanalyze herself (well, really, it’s armisael). she realizes a couple of major things: that she is terribly lonely, and that she has a connection with shinji. she cries for the first time (pretty much the most emotion we get out of her the entire show) and self-destructs. 

rei III comes after, and she seems even less attached to gendo. i think she probably knows, either consciously or subconsciously, that gendo is merely using her (since she’s not really yui, just an expendable clone) and would use her again and again until he completes his objectives. she turns away from gendo and toward shinji. she realizes that instead of seeking self-validation through the lives the wishes of others, she ought to make her own decisions and live for herself. she must cease to define herself through the lenses of others. she realizes that if she wishes to live, and to interact with the world, who is gendo to dictate otherwise? 

[justngethings]

Before gendo killed ritsuko what he said was muted, its just a theory that he said that. I would love to talk to you about nge! Who is your favorite male character in nge?

this is true -- it is just a theory, but it's also a damn fine one. i think it's pretty well supported so i suppose it's my headcanon now? but yeah, i could be completely wrong.

my favorite male character... hmm. i probably would have to say shinji. you have no idea how hard i thought about this. ruling out kensuke, toji, and nerv personnel, we have gendo, fuyutsuki, shinji, kaworu, and kaji left. among other things that i will flesh out more fully in my upcoming shinji post, i find him the most appealing character-wise than the other male characters. kaji and fuyutsuki came close, but i would have loved more character development for both men.