Neon Genesis Evangelion‘s Rei Ayanami is an insanely popular character, enough so that she essentially created an entire archetype of anime characters in the form of the emotionless girl. However, series creator Hideaki Anno nearly forgot she existed while making the series, and didn’t seem to consider her too highly at all.
Rei is introduced early in Evangelion, but in her first appearances, she’s gravely injured and unable to really communicate. It takes quite a while for fans to get to know who Rei is as a character, and her complicated role within the story certainly didn’t help matters. Despite this, many fans found themselves drawn towards Rei from the moment she appeared. There’s just something about Rei’s character that is instantly appealing, at least to a certain group of fans. Even Shinji is struck by seeing Rei for the first time, and she ends up being a motivating factor to get Shinji in that robot.
Rei Didn’t Make Much Impression on Anno
Anno Found Rei So Forgettable She Almost Didn’t Appear
In an interview found and shared by Crunchyroll some years ago, Anno was asked about Rei and the role she plays in the series. After saying she wasn’t particularly based on his mother, or a former girlfriend, Anno says, “Rei is probably [the character] closest to my deep psyche. I don’t really understand her. … The truth is, I have no emotional attachment to her at all.” The interviewer is extremely surprised, and Anno added, “But Rei is [the character] I least understand. In addition, I’m not really that interested in her. …Even in the midst of making Eva, I suddenly realized I had forgotten her. Her very existence. In episode seven, I remembered, and added a single shot with Rei. I had no emotional attachment to her at all. I think that was fine, because she didn’t appear in episode eight, not even for a single shot.”
Rei does have a notable absence through several episodes in that period, although from an in-universe perspective it’s likely because she’s still recovering from her injuries. Still, fans might be shocked to find out just how much of an afterthought Rei’s inclusion was. Rei is clearly an important character for the narrative, often acting as the one thing forcing Shinji to take action, so to think that she was nearly forgotten is quite a shock.
Anno seems to struggle to explain just what it is about Rei that keeps her so distant from him. It almost seems that he’s saying he has a hard time understanding Rei because he has a hard time understanding himself at such a deep level. Without the layers of emotion and ego wrapped around her, Rei is essentially just those deep parts of the psyche laid bare. That may have made her difficult to write for, especially if Anno struggled with those parts of himself.
Rei’s Appeal is Tied to Her Mystery
Rei’s Mysterious Introduction Makes Her Compelling
Rei is introduced in such a situation that she can’t really make an impression through her own volition. Instead, Rei is defined by what has happened to her–she’s badly injured and unable to pilot EVA Unit-00. Shinji sees this and is essentially forced to decide: should he go ahead and do this dangerous thing to protect a girl he doesn’t know? He does, and that makes the audience invested in Rei. Who is it that Shinji has made this sacrifice for? Was she worth it?
Because Shinji has such a hard time talking to Rei, she remains a very mysterious character for a long time, and that mystery is a big part of her allure. As an unknown quantity, early Rei has unlimited potential. She could be anyone, the girl of Shinji’s dreams. Rei’s injuries also set her up as being vulnerable and in need of protection, which sparks a desire to shield her from harm, even in someone like Shinji. Her strange relationship with Gendo also raises a lot of questions, allowing the mysteries surrounding her character to keep piling up.
By the end of the series, though, many of Rei’s mysteries have been unraveled. Fans know that Rei’s a clone, that she was based on Shinji’s mother Yui Ikari, and that she carries the soul of Lilith. Rei is fully known by the end of the series, and that removes a big part of what made her so intriguing to start with. While Rei is still certainly an exceptional girl, she’s no longer the mystery woman that one can project their own desires upon.
Rei Takes a Backseat to Asuka in Rebuild of Evangelion
Rei’s Mystery Being Resolved Made Asuka A More Appealing Option
When it came to retelling the story of Evangelion in the Rebuild movies, there’s a distinct shift towards focusing on Asuka over Rei. The mystery around Rei can’t really be played out a second time; everyone already knows her secrets this time around, so there can be no surprise. That made Rebuild Rei a difficult character to write for as well, and ended up essentially inverting her presentation in the original series. Rebuild still hides Rei’s origins, just in case, but the real fans know her secrets already. Asuka, on the other hand, has a much stronger force of personality, and naturally captured the spotlight.
Asuka certainly has a lot of psychologically interesting elements to her character which Rei lacks, which makes her a better focus for the movies. That’s not to say Rei is boring, but Asuka’s dynamic personality makes her a better fit for the kind of story that the Rebuild movies wanted to tell. Rei has little sense of self-importance, while Asuka has an inflated one. The characters do change and evolve in different ways in Rebuild than in the original series, and that was just easier to do with Asuka.
Anno may have forgotten about Rei, but that doesn’t make Rei any less of a critical character to the series. Given her situation at that point in the story, it’s perhaps easy to lose track of her character, but Rei had plenty more left to do in the original series after this point, so it’s not as if she just dropped out of the story. The fact that Rei still has many, many fans to this day proves that she’s a more interesting character than Anno believed her to be, someone who is absolutely critical in making Neon Genesis Evangelion what it is.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a Japanese animated television series created by Hideaki Anno. The show follows teenagers piloting giant mechs called Evangelions, tasked with defending Earth from mysterious beings known as Angels. As they confront these threats, they also grapple with personal and psychological issues.
- Release Date
- August 20, 1997
- Cast
- Megumi Ogata , Megumi Hayashibara , Kotono Mitsuishi , Spike Spencer , Allison Keith-Shipp , Sue Ulu , Amanda Winn Lee , Tristan MacAvery
- Character(s)
- Shinji Ikari , Rei Ayanami , Misato Katsuragi , Ritsuko Akagi , GendoIkari
- Creator(s)
- Hideaki Anno
- Seasons
- 1