| Rei Ayanami | |
|---|---|
| Neon Genesis Evangelion character | |
 Rei with her Evangelion Unit-00 (in the background) as a child (left), as a pilot (center), and as a student (right) | |
| First appearance | Neon Genesis Evangelion chapter 2: "Reunion" (1995) |
| Created by | Gainax |
| Voiced by | Japanese Megumi Hayashibara English Amanda Winn-Lee (ADV dub andRebuild series;Prime Video dub) Brina Palencia (Rebuild series;Funimation dub) Ryan Bartley (Netflix dub) |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Rei Ayanami |
| Species | Human clone |
| Gender | Female |
| Title | First Child |
| Notable relatives | Gendo Ikari (legal guardian) Yui Ikari (biological source) Lilith (biological source) Shinji Ikari (son of Yui) |
Rei Ayanami (Japanese:綾波 レイ,Hepburn:Ayanami Rei;IPA:[ajaꜜnamʲiɾeː]) is a fictional character from theNeon Genesis Evangelionanime series andits eponymous franchise created by the anime studioGainax. In the anime series, Rei is an introverted girl chosen as the enigmatic pilot ofEvangelion Unit-00, one of a series of giantmechas calledEvangelions. She is called theFirst Child among the Evangelion pilots. At the beginning of the series, Rei is a mysterious figure whose unusual behavior astonishes her peers. As the series progresses, she becomes more involved with the people around her, particularly her classmate and fellow Evangelion pilot,Shinji Ikari. She is revealed to be a clone of his mother,Yui Ikari, andLilith, a large being known as anAngel. Rei appears in thefranchise's animated feature films and related media,video games, theoriginal net animationPetit Eva: Evangelion@School, theRebuild of Evangelion films, and themanga adaptation byYoshiyuki Sadamoto.
Hideaki Anno, director of the animated series, conceived Rei as a representation of hisunconscious mind. He was also influenced by his readings onpsychology, particularlyFreudianpsychoanalysis, taking inspiration from Freud's theories on theOedipus complex. Other influences for its creation include earlier works by Gainax staff members, such asAoki Uru, andPaul Gallico'sThe Snow Goose. Rei is voiced byMegumi Hayashibara in Japanese and byAmanda Winn-Lee,Brina Palencia, and Ryan Bartley in English.
Reactions from viewers and critics to Rei have generally been positive. She has maintained a high ranking in popularity polls of the series and of the most popular anime characters in Japan. Reviewers have praised Rei's mysterious aura and her role in the story. Merchandise based on her has been released, includingaction figures, life-size statues, clothing, and makeup. Critics linked her success to a series ofmoe traits, described by Thomas Zoth of Mania Entertainment as "weak [and] vulnerable",[1] that anime fans recognized, influencing the creation of subsequent female anime characters.
Hideaki Anno, the director of theanimeNeon Genesis Evangelion, instructedYoshiyuki Sadamoto, the character designer of the same work, on Rei's character design, saying, "Whatever else, she needs to be painted as a bitterly unhappy young girl with little sense of presence."[2] The bandKinniku Shōjo Tai's theme song "Doko e demo ikeru kitte" and its line "hotai de masshiro na shojo" (包帯で真っ白な少女;lit. '"the girl white with bandages"') inspired Sadamoto to draw Rei.[3] The same band produced a song named "Fumimi no kodomo" (福耳の子供), in which a female monologue is audible, and Sadamoto tried to portray a girl with a similar voice.[4] Ukina, a character from Sadamoto's previous workKoto, served as Rei's model, and the artist gave her "shaggy, bobbed wolf-like hair".[5] Another source of inspiration wasThe Snow Goose, a novella written byPaul Gallico; the story describes a painting portraying the protagonist, a thin and pale girl, in an empty room, and the artist tried to create a character similar to her.[4]
Anno required a "gloomy",[6] short-haired character, so Sadamoto originally designed Rei as a brunette with dark eyes; however, it was necessary to distinguish her from the other female protagonist,Asuka Langley Soryu, so he depicted her with eye and hair colors opposite to Asuka's.[7] He also published a drawing of a dark-haired character named Yui Ichijō among Rei's designs in one of his artbooks, without specifying whether it is an early conception ofYui Ikari.[8] Although Asuka was designed to behave similar to an idol inNeon Genesis Evangelion and to symbolize heterosexual attraction, Sadamoto designed Rei as a motherhood symbol,[9] thinking of her as "theYin opposed to Asuka".[10] Anno also suggested Rei's eye color be red, a feature he believed gave her more personality and distinguished her design from those of the other characters.[5] Her hair color changed to blue, similar to the main character fromAoki Uru, the movie sequel toRoyal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (1987), which was not made.[4] Sadamoto also gave her black stockings, inspired by a women's handball team he saw playing in middle school.[11] Black allowed him to differentiate her from the characters of the series released in the same period and go against their trend.[12]
Japanese architect Kaichiro Morikawa compared the face of the first Rei, usually presented in a distorted and deformed way, to the installations ofTony Oursler, also comparing her bedroom toGottfried Helnwein's photographs.[13] Writer Claudio Cordella associated her personality with that of the female characters portrayed by the painterEdward Burne-Jones and her gaze with the "fixed and lifeless eyes" of Olympia fromThe Tales of Hoffmann.[14] Furthermore,Takekuma Kentaro linked the image of Rei in bandages to the photos of Romain Slocombe, but Sadamoto compared her to the works of manga artist Sensha Yoshida.[15] Her image is often flanked in the series by that of theMoon, a celestial body associated with motherhood, pallor, passivity, and femininity. Japanese engineer Yumiko Yano thus noticed a hieratic and unattainable aura in Rei Ayanami, comparing her to theVirgin Mary.[16] Yano also associated her figure with the fragile and chaste women portrayed infin de siècle art, particularly popular among the works ofSymbolist painters.[17]
Similarly to otherEvangelion characters, Ayanami's surname comes from a JapaneseWorld War II naval vessel, theFubuki-class destroyerAyanami.[18] Her first name comes from the characterRei Hino of the anime and manga seriesSailor Moon. This was done to get one ofSailor Moon's directors,Kunihiko Ikuhara, to work onEvangelion.[19] Written inkanji,Rei (零) can mean "zero" or "null". The characterRei (例) also means "custom" or "routine".[20] According to writerPatrick Drazen, her name can be a pun on her Evangelion 00.[21] As for criticHiroki Azuma, it may have been influenced by a character named Zero, the protagonist of the 1987 novelAi to Gensō no Fascism, written byRyū Murakami.[22] Anno also took inspiration fromSigmund Freud'spsychoanalytic concept of theOedipus complex for her role. He conceived the Evangelion and Rei as palliative mother figures for Shinji; Rei was also developed as emotionally close to Shinji's father, Gendo, creating a multi-layered Oedipus complex.[23] In a discarded draft of the character's background, she was thus a more sensual character than her final version; character designer Sadamoto, however, unlike the more frank and explicit Hideaki Anno, decided to give her a much more "enigmatic" and blanderos.[24] For Kazuya Tsurumaki, Shinji feels a sexual and incestuous desire for her, and Kentaro Takekuma described her as an "eternal virgin".[25]
DuringEvangelion's production and first broadcast, Anno struggled writing the character, not feeling "particularly interested", understanding, or relating to her. Still, he thought of her as representing hisunconscious mind,[26][27] conceiving Rei as "the unconscious Shinji".[28] In the fifth episode, "Rei I", explicitly dedicated to her character, Rei speaks seven lines and fifty-two words. Meanwhile, in the sixth, "Rei II", she has twenty-five lines.[29] After working on the sixth episode, Anno said that he wondered that if Rei's purpose in the story was finished because of communicating with Shinji. Not feeling particularly close to her, the director, for a long time, forgot to explore Rei's personality, ignoring it or giving it marginal space. In the eighth episode, "Asuka Strikes!", for example, she does not appear in any scene, but in the seventh installment, "A Human Work", he remembered her and added a scene with Rei.[26] As with otherEvangelion characters, he transposed aspects of his life into the character, including the choice to not eat meat and maintain a vegetarian diet.[30][31] At the beginning of the production, he also stated that he did not know what would happen to Rei or the other characters "because I don't know where life is taking the staff".[32]
Her history has eventually changed. According to Sadamoto and assistant directorKazuya Tsurumaki, she was originally conceived as an alien entity, but staff later made her at least genetically human. During an interview, they described Rei as a girl with the human genes of Yui Ikari and the genes of the first AngelAdam [sic]; Tsurumaki also associated her condition with a Devilman, a hybrid presented in the mangaDevilman byGo Nagai.[33] Moreover, in the original script for thetwenty-first episode, the first Rei clone, killed byNaoko Akagi in the final version of the script, eventually survives after being strangled and having lost consciousness momentarily, awakening in an empty command room without Dr. Akagi.[34] In contrast, Anno had planned the death of her second clone since the beginning.[35]
During the production of thefourteenth episode, the director decided to focus on her and "explore her emotion", adding a monologue of Rei. As he was working on the monologue, he wanted to develop her in a "schizophrenic" direction and wondered how to portray a kind of madness. He was loaned a magazine-like book entitledBessatsu Takarajima (別冊宝島) on mental illness that contained a poem by someone who had a mental disorder and that triggered his imagination.[36] Moreover, during the production, Ikuhara, annoyed by the idealized image and the fetishism that some fans built around the character, proposed to Anno to "betray" fans and show her as a real girl who gets married and "gets pregnant in the last episode", but Anno rejected the suggestion.[37] Furthermore, in the original finale wanted by Anno, the giant Rei added inThe End of Evangelion (1997) was not foreseen since it was conceived later.[38] Anno declared he considered her character "already finished" in her smile scene from the sixth episode since "she and Shinji completely 'communicated' there".[26] In the last episodes of the series, Rei dies, and another clone, who acts like a stranger to Shinji, replaces her.[39] Anno compared the story after her smile scene, in which there is a step back in interpersonal communication, to Hideki Gō, a character from theReturn of Ultraman series; Gō seems to get closer to other people and his colleagues from the Monster Attack Team, but "then next week things begin again from [a position of] estrangement". He also added: "At that point, something emerges of my mistrust or fear of communication with others."[26]
In an interview with Anno, Japanese writer and academic Ōizumi Mitsunari likened the figure of Rei to the girls committed to the Japanese sectAum Shinrikyō, which carried out theTokyo subway sarin attack in 1995, as "completely dependent on theirguru",Shōkō Asahara.[26] The bookSchizo Evangelion, edited by him, describes her as "a sacrifice offered to all the Japanesemama's boys and sadists" and in a series of dichotomies, such as opium and euphoria,Satan and God, "the infinite power of Eros" and "the blinding power ofThanatos at the same time", "asarin prepared by Gendo Ikari for his plan to destroy humanity", the "keyhole ofPandora's box", and theGreat Bad Mother trying to take in her son.[40] According to the scholar Hiroki Azuma, Rei Ayanami introduces a "new type of solitude" into Japanese animation.[41] Before her, anime characters were divided between sociable girls with expensive clothes and cosmetics, technological gadgets, and often engaged in prostitution activities calledkogal; andotaku, isolated characters with rooms full of technology and magazines. According to Azuma, Rei transcends both stereotypes; he likened her room to Satyam, the scientific laboratory of Aum Shinrikyō.[41]
Critic Krystian Woznicki compared Rei's role toPinocchio in the film964 Pinocchio (1991), but "Rei's character is quite realistic, whereas Pinocchio is completely removed from reality".[22] Japanese criticTamaki Saitō described her as "the culmination of thePygmalionism that began withNanako SOS".[42] At the same time, Kenneth Lee noted a similarity in her path of self-awareness with Pinocchio and Key fromKey the Metal Idol.[43] Furthermore, writer Tamaki Saito reported thatAmi Mizuno fromPretty Guardian Sailor Moon has been interpreted as a forerunner of Rei.[44]Patrick Drazen noticed that, like otherNeon Genesis Evangelion characters, who have traits of some deities ofShinto mythology, Rei has affinities with the goddess of theSun,Amaterasu, who is reborn at every dawn. He also compared the show's two other protagonists, Shinji and Asuka, withSusanoo andAma-no-Uzume, respectively; Shinji, like Susanoo, has clumsy social manners and unsociable behavior, but Asuka, similar to Uzume, is ebullient and flaunts her body.[45] According to Italian scholar Fabio Bartoli, her three incarnations could be linked to the three evolutionary stages of thesoul postulated by the JewishQabbalah—Nephesh, the mere animal vitality;Ruach, the normal human soul; andNeshamah, the elevated spirit and result of the connection between man and God.[46]
Megumi Hayashibara voiced Rei in all her appearances in the original series, as well as the later films, spin-offs, video games, and theRebuild of Evangelion saga. In 1995, Hayashibara said she was somewhat "surprised" by her role and laconic character, saying: "I have to challenge something new."[47] Hayashibara also attended auditions for Asuka andMisato Katsuragi.[48] However, after hearing her performance in an OVA namedIchigatsu ni wa Christmas (一月にはChristmas), Anno felt her voice was more suited to Rei.[49] She noticed that beforeNeon Genesis Evangelion, there were few taciturn and cold characters to deal with, so, in the absence of examples to imitate, she tried to characterize her "as best I could".[50] During the dub sessions, Hideaki Anno instructed and guided her, advising her to read her lines in the flattest tone possible: "When the director explained her character to me, he said, 'It's not that Rei doesn't have any feelings, it's just that she doesn't understand.'"[51] According to Hayashibara, since Rei "doesn't know emotion, there's no difference between what she says and feels". At first glance, her "great beauty" comes from "this surface, not without depth, but with the absence of its necessity". She added, "Rei's beauty comes from the truth that she has feelings", and "when I found the warmth below the coldness in her words, I synchronized with Rei for the first time".[51]
Voicing themahjong gameShinseiki Evangelion: Eva to Yukai na Nakamatachi (新世紀エヴァンゲリオンエヴァと愉快な仲間たち;lit. 'Neon Genesis Evangelion: Eva and Good Friends'), she stated that she understood the difference between "lack of intonation" and "absence of emotion" in words. She linked the lack of intonation as a sign of "self-confidence"; an insecure or bad-faith person, in her opinion, tended to emphasize words, as Rei is honest and tells the truth.[53] The voice actress also reprised the role for theRebuild. During filming for the third film in the saga,Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012), she worked on parts that were not fully animated, so she had to ask the director what was happening in the scenes. Hayashibara stated she had to do "countless takes" for Rei's short lines and find the right nuance the staff wanted. She had to voice her as she was indifferent and be careful in conveying her character's feelings of happiness "without overdoing it".[54]
Regarding the final installment,Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021), a complicated part for her was showing another Rei clone who is slowly growing up; when she tried to be pure, she was criticized, and when she tried to be less emotional, she was criticized anyway. Anno attempted to make the characters younger and with fuller emotions, so it was difficult for the voice actress to get the nuances the director wanted.[55] With Rei's role, Hayashibara's popularity as a voice actor grew, and she became an icon of anime fandom.[56][57] Shunsuke Nozawa, assistant professor atHokkaido University, noted how, in the 1990s, there was an explosion of interest in Japanese voice actors, believing the figure of Hayashibara to be at the center of this change, thanks to the "enormous, societal-level fascination" exerted by Ayanami. Hayashibara thus began to be interviewed about the series and to be regularly invited on television as a celebrity.[58]
Amanda Winn-Lee voices Rei in English in the original series and the Amazon dubs of theRebuild of Evangelion films.[52] According to Winn-Lee, despite the cold and detached appearance, there is still "a small spark of humanity" in Rei, "clouded by this huge sense of negative self-worth and the realization that she is expendable".[59] She also stated: "She knows she's expendable, but the thing is, she's still human."[60] In the Funimation dub of theRebuild of Evangelion films, her role is entrusted toBrina Palencia, and in theNetflix dub, she is voiced by Ryan Bartley.[52][61]
The original series does not specify Rei Ayanami's birth date.[62][63] All data about Rei's past are unknown or erased; her age, 14 in 2015,[64][65] is the only known fact. Officially, the Marduk Institute chooses Rei[66] as the First Child and pilot of Evangelion Unit-00 to defeat creatures namedAngels for the special agency Nerv under the command ofGendo Ikari.[65] In 2014, she moved to the first municipal middle school in the new city of Tokyo-3, and Gendo became her legal guardian.[67] Through the course of the series, Rei, who is originally completely submissive to the will of Gendo, becomes friends with fellow Eva pilot and classmateShinji Ikari, changing her attitude.[68] She also begins to become more aware of her own identity and desires.[69][70]
Rei decides to sacrifice herself alongside Evangelion Unit-00 in the battle with the AngelArmisael to save Shinji and destroy the enemy. After her apparent death, Dr.Ritsuko Akagi reveals she was born in the Laboratory for Artificial Evolution's third branch, located underLake Ashino andHakone City.[71] Her body with albino-like traits was created in absolute secrecy from the salvaged remains of Yui Ikari,[72] a brilliant researcher who lost her life in a testing experiment by Evangelion Unit-01. Ritsuko also reveals that in the deepest level of Nerv's headquarters, many Rei clones are kept so Rei can be replaced when one of them dies. When a clone is activated from a level named Terminal Dogma, although she remains characteristically distinct from all former incarnations, she is endowed with the soul ofLilith, the second Angel.[73] Her memory is eventually saved in an object similar to a spinal column placed in the Central Dogma of the Nerv, the Dummy Plug Plant.[74] In 2010, Gendo brought her first clone (Rei I) to the Gehirn base, the predecessor of Nerv and responsible for developing and constructing the first Evangelion units, introducing her as the daughter an acquaintance had entrusted to him.[75] Dr. Naoko Akagi, a colleague and secret lover of Gendo, killed this first Rei.[76] During her visit to Gehirn, Rei I got lost in the laboratory control room and met Naoko, calling her an "old hag" as if to provoke her. She then revealed that it was Gendo who called Naoko that. Naoko suddenly recognized Yui's facial features in the little girl's face, and, in an outburst of violence, she strangled and killed her, after which she committed suicide.[77]
After her sacrifice, a third and final clone replaces Rei II. Ritsuko later destroys all the other bodies in Terminal Dogma.[78] Thanks to her close relationship with Shinji, the last Rei decides to rebel against Gendo's will. Rei III, thus, is the main catalyst behind an apocalyptic event named Third Impact. She merges with Lilith, letting Shinji freely decide the course of a process called Human Instrumentality, during which all humanity unites into one collective consciousness.[64][79] A giant white and naked Rei emerges into open space during the process, holding Shinji's Evangelion Unit-01, and when Shinji rejects Instrumentality, this figure decomposes. After Shinji rematerializes, he briefly sees a version of Rei watching over him from a distance before vanishing.[80]
Rei returns as a primary character inRebuild of Evangelion and appears in the saga's first installment,Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007). Her character remains virtually identical to the anime, acting as a pilot of Evangelion Unit-00 and helping Shinji defeat AngelRamiel.[81] Writer Thomas Lamarre noted that theRebuild saga makes the relationship between Shinji and Rei a central element of the story, increasing and improving the scenes depicting them.[82] In the second movie,Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009), her character develops, and her relationship with Shinji is shown much more openly than in the original series. Departing from her original traits, she attempts to host a dinner party for her fellow pilots.[83] Anno first thought of using this idea for the fourth episode of the original anime, but the proposal was shelved during the production of the series.[84] During the climax, the AngelZeruel devours Rei and Unit-00. When Unit-01 goes out of control, Shinji forces his way into the Angel, pulling her out, and the two embrace each other;[85] at the end of the fight, they are both trapped within Unit-01 as the action triggers the Third Impact.[86] During the feature film, it is also suggested that Gendo and Fuyutsuki plan to bring Shinji and Rei together.[87] Assistant director Tsurumaki was asked about this after the feature film's release; according to him, the impression of a strategy to bring Shinji and Rei together resulted from the complex script writing, and "Anno probably hasn't thought about that very deeply."[88]
In the third installment,Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012), set fourteen years later, the same Rei does not appear; a different clone is introduced instead, who acts differently than the other Rei, maintaining a cold and silent demeanor.[89] InEvangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021), the last film of the saga, Rei's new clone, named Ayanami (Tentative Name), heads together with Shinji and Asuka Shikinami to a small town called Village 3, inhabited by survivors of the various Impacts that occurred and isolated from the outside world, almost uninhabitable. Here, Rei interacts with the adultToji Suzuhara andHikari Horaki, old schoolmates of the previous clone, and with the children and women of Village 3, helping them to work in the fields; with time, the new Ayanami begins to develop her individuality, gradually discovering the world around her and learning to socialize with the inhabitants. After some time, however, Rei (Tentative Name), whose real name is Ayanami-Type No.006, cannot maintain her form without continuous contact with the Evangelion's LCL liquid and dies in front of Shinji. During the Instrumentality, Shinji meets again the Rei of fourteen years before, who remained inside the Evangelion Unit-01. The old Rei, with visibly long hair, argues with her companion, who decides to live in a world without Evangelions and give the world a new birth, Neon Genesis. Rei and Shinji then say goodbye to each other for the last time, shaking hands and smiling.[90]
In the officialNeon Genesis Evangelion manga by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, further differences are evident in Rei's characterization. She is generally more empathetic and open to human contact in the manga than her animated counterpart. In the comic, moreover, the character has more space than Asuka, who, in the anime, has a predominant role. Compared to the classic series, Sadamoto tried his hand at her relationship with Shinji, particularly insisting on the symbology of the touch of the hands and the theme of motherhood, inspired byKazuo Umezu'sThe Drifting Classroom.[91][92] As in the series, she initially considers herself empty and useless, created solely for piloting the Evangelion under Ikari's orders; Shinji's touch changes her attitude. In a scene from the fifth volume of the manga where they are both at Rei's house, Rei gets burned as she is preparing tea with Shinji, and their hands touch for a moment. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Rei invites Shinji to speak to his father and open up to him; in another chapter, thinking back to that moment, she wonders if her hands will one day be able to touch Shinji again.[93] During the clash with the Angel Armisael, Rei becomes increasingly aware of her feelings of sadness and affection towards Shinji,[94] towards whom she demonstrates she wants to become one with him.[95] Sadamoto himself described Shinji and Rei's feelings as mutual love.[92]
In a scene from the last episode of the animated series, an alternate reality is presented with a different story than the previous episodes; Rei is presented as a girl who has just moved into the class of Asuka and Shinji, with a cheerful, distracted, and irascible personality.[96][97] An outgoing Rei is featured in someNeon Genesis Evangelion spin-offs, such asNeon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days, set in the alternate reality of the last episode.[98] In the original web anime seriesPetit Eva: Evangelion@School, a parody of the original animated series, three Ayanami sisters are presented: one is diligent and introverted,[99] another is sport-oriented and extroverted,[100] and another is a four-year-old girl with a passion for soft toys.[101] InNeon Genesis Evangelion: Anima, set three years after theEnd of Evangelion in an alternate scenario, several Rei appear: Rei Troi, pilot of an Eva named Evangelion Unit-02 Type II Allegorica;[102] Rei Quatre; Rei Cinq; and the seven-year-old Rei Six, all of them pilots of Evangelion-0.0 units.[103] InNeon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse, Rei shares a mysterious connection with Kaworu that triggers Shinji's attention.[104] She is also present inNeon Genesis Evangelion: Legend of the Piko Piko Middle School Students.[105] In asimulation game entitledNeon Genesis Evangelion: Ayanami Raising Project, the player takes on the task of looking after Rei. She is also available as a romantic option inNeon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel 2nd,[106][107]Neon Genesis Evangelion 2,[108]Neon Genesis Evangelion: Shinji Ikari Raising Project,[109][110][111] and its manga adaptation, wherein she is a distant cousin of Shinji.[112]
In addition to games based on the original series, Rei has appeared in media not related to theEvangelion franchise, such asMonster Strike,[113]Super Robot Wars,[114]Tales of Zestiria,[115]Puzzle & Dragons,[116]Keri Hime Sweets,Summons Board,[117][118]Puyopuyo!! Quest,[119]Line Rangers,[120]Unison,[121]MapleStory,[122][123]Valkyrie Connect,[124][125]Ragnarok Online,[126][127]The Battle Cats,[128] and in an officialShinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion crossover episode.[129]
Rei Ayanami is a taciturn girl[130] who limits relations as much as possible and mechanically executes any order given to her, even if particularly cruel.[131] She is introverted,[132][133] uncomplaining,[134] socially detached, and laconic.[135] Hideaki Anno believed that Japanese society wanted girls who behaved quietly and avoided complaining.[134] Sociologist Satomi Ishikawa noticed that in a scene from the sixth episode of the series, "Rei II", her companion Shinji asks her the reason that pushes her to want to pilot Evangelion 00; Rei replies by saying she finds her only "bond" with other people in this, thus demonstrating that she is solely committed to the struggle against the Angels.[136][137] Throughout the series, she proves indifferent to life and takes drastic actions that could cost her life.The Artifice writer Justin Wu noticed that, unlike other characters from the series, she does not care if she dies and embraces death "as if death is the only way to prove that she has lived".[135]
For the critic Gerald Alva Miller, despite her cold attitude, Rei experiences feelings of alienation and existential angst.[138] Gualtiero Cannarsi, who curated the Italian adaptation for the series, similarly described Rei as a girl "unaware of the most basic rules of life and hygiene", as she has had no one to teach them to her, resulting in her disinterest in them. Her attitude is reflected in her apartment, where hygiene is neglected. In one episode, Ritsuko Akagi says, similarly to Commander Ikari, that she is not skilled in life skills.[139] Scattered on the floor of her apartment are scientific texts on biological interactions and genetics written in the Latin alphabet in the original series[140] andThe Happy Prince and Other Tales in theRebuild of Evangelion series.[141] CriticSusan J. Napier also noticed that in the last two episodes, she confesses wanting to die and "go back to nothing".[142] According toEvangelion character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, she is "translucent" as a shadow or "the air": "The kind of girl you can't touch. The girl you long for, but there is nothing about her that you can grab a hold onto."[5] He also interpreted Asuka and Rei as "strong characters, in their own separate ways".[143] Furthermore, Hayashibara described her as an "ethereal character"; according to her: "Her emotions are like waves, so if I were off by even one millimeter, it would affect her character, and I'd have to redo it."[54]
During a show, a little girl asked Anno what Rei likes, and he replied that he did not think about it.[144] According to him, she does not appreciate her own life, hurts herself, and feels she does not need friends, being aware of the fact that she could be replaced: "Her presence, her existence—ostensible existence—is ephemeral. She's a very sad girl. She only has the barest minimum of what she needs to have."[145] Anno also compared the Japanese attraction to characters such as Rei as the result of "a stunted imaginative landscape born of Japan's defeat in the Second World War" and remarked about the lack of preparation for adulthood in Japanese education after the Second World War.[145] Critics linked her silent and inexpressive personality toalexithymia or aschizoid personality disorder.[146][147] An officialDeath and Rebirth booklet describes her as "an expressionlessnoh mask" and "a girl who does not dream".[39] At the same time, the bookSchizo Evangelion characterized her as "a dreamless mind, completely separated fromJung'scollective unconscious".[40]
AcademicFrenchy Lunning described Rei as Shinji'sanima.[148] According to screenwriterYōji Enokido, she produces in young men a feeling of distance "as though they were still half in the womb".[149] In one of the first scenes of theEvangelion anime, Shinji sees a ghost of Rei Ayanami in a deserted city near Tokyo-3. The Rei visible in the sequence is not the real Rei; the appearance has been connected to the scenario of the filmThe End of Evangelion, released in 1997 as a conclusion to the classic series.[150] During the film, all forms of life come together in one being during Instrumentality; human beings see Rei's ghosts appear shortly before dying, guiding them in the process as "messengers of redemption".[151] According to Yūichirō Oguro, editor of some of the contents of the Japanese home video editions ofEvangelion, the ghost of Rei that Shinji sees on the avenue is "the existence that gazes upon man", and the scene symbolizes that "Shinji is protected by his mother since the beginning of the series".[152][153]
According to Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Rei can feel emotions and feelings but has expressive and communicative difficulties.[154] From the series's first episodes, Shinji tries to connect with her; however, Rei cannot adequately parse the meaning of his words and actions. Although the two pilots occasionally converse with each other, they cannot communicate on an emotional level and do not understand their feelings.[155] However, as Shinji cries, he rejoices about her continuing to live after a major fight in the sixth episode, she smiles,[156] marking one of her most significant moments of character development.[135][157] After this, their words and actions move to a place of mutual understanding.[39] For critic Manabu Tsuribe, with her smile in the sixth episode,Neon Genesis Evangelion reaches its climax, and "as a story of 'growth and independence of a boy'—like aBildungsroman—ended there once.Evangelion as a story has stopped there".[158]
Reception to Rei's character has been positive.[159][160] Since 1995, she has become the subject of homages from theNeon Genesis Evangelion fandom, including fan fiction,[161] fan art, anddōjinshi, proving popular.[161][162] The writer Patrick W. Galbraith described her as "the single most popular and influential character in the history ofotaku anime".[163] She also ranked highly in popularity surveys.[164] Immediately afterEvangelion's first airing concluded, the 1996 and 1997Anime Grand Prix survey byAnimage magazine elected Rei as the best female character of the moment.[165][166] WhenRevival of Evangelion was released in 1998, she ranked fifth as the most popularEvangelion female character.[167] Rei also appeared in the magazine's monthly surveys, remaining in the top ten in 1997[168] and 1998[169][170] and the top twenty in the 1999 polls.[171] In 2002,TV Asahi ranked her 36th among the 100 most-loved characters in anime history.[172] TV Asahi later published the results of polls on anime's greatest scenes; all theEvangelion scenes that ranked in the lists were related to the character.[173]
Rei Ayanami also won first place inNewtype magazine popularity charts.[174] In July 2005, for example, she emerged tenth,[175] and the magazine praised her ability to awe fans ten years after the anime aired on television.[176] In August and September 2009, after the release ofEvangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, she ranked fourth and second.[177][178] In October, she took third place, becoming the most popularEvangelion female character.[179] Rei was also voted the most popular female anime character from the 1990s in aNewtype poll in March 2010.[180] In 2015, nearly twenty years after its debut, she ranked in first place among the female characters favored by fans, thus beating all the heroines of the season's anime. In 2018,Rebuild Rei was included among the best thirty characters of the previous decade.[181] In 2013, theNHKShibuya Anime Land radio show ranked her among the ten top anime heroines of all time.[182]
ForOricon News, Rei's character has becomeEvangelion's emblem.[183] She also ranked inEvangelion popularity polls, usually in the top three.[184][185] A column in the September 2007 issue of theNihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said, on the occasion ofEvangelion 1.0's theatrical release, that there were over one million dedicated Rei fans in Japan and that: "This bandaged goddess is an icon of Japanese anime."[186] The newspaper also stated that "empathy towards Ayanami" came from a time where the Japanese economy was in a low state and people had low self-esteem, but even though "the economy recovered", people still feel a sense of emptiness.[186] She also had a place in Mania Entertainment's ten iconic anime heroines list written by Thomas Zoth, who commented on the large amount of merchandise based on her: "Shops inAkihabara struggled to keep Rei Ayanami figurines and toys in stock. [...] Many critics also credit Ayanami for starting themoe boom in anime, with its reliance on weak, vulnerable characters that the audience would desire to protect."[1] In March and April 2021, after the release of the finalRebuild film, she finished as the eighth and sixth most popular female character in aNewtype poll[187] and in sixth and second place in May and June.[188]
Rei has been well received by anime critics. Japanese cultural critic Hiroki Azuma described her as "an extremely impressive character", praising the performance of Megumi Hayashibara and its psychological realism since "Rei's solitude is grounded in a completely tactile substantiality which gives us extremely realistic images of the discommunication that children of the present face."[41]Newtype praised the fifth and the sixth episodes, describing the drawings of the scene in which she smiles at Gendo in "Rei I" as "excellent" and the scene where she greets Shinji before the battle against the Angel Ramiel in "Rei II" as "impressive".[189] In February 1996,Animedia magazine ranked her smile scene from the sixth episode among the most memorable anime moments of the month.[190]The Artifice writer Justin Wu also praised the scene, describing it as a "powerful" and "iconic moment" since it 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".[135]Science Fiction Weekly's Tasha Robinson expressed appreciation for the character's conclusion.[191]IGN ranked her tenth on its list of the top twenty-five anime characters of all time. Writer Chris Mackenzie described her as "a hugely influential character concept"; Mackenzie also found Rei different from similar characters created afterEvangelion since: "The difference between Rei and so many almost-Reis is that there might be something behind the façade."[192]
Other critics expressed a negative opinion of the character. Although the writer forAnime-Planet appreciated some revelations about her past and still considered her "by far the most interesting character", they criticized the lack of exploration of the depth of her character.[193] A writer forThe Anime Critic wrote, "[Rei] has absolutely no personality to speak of, and she remains an enigma for most of the series. Part of the intrigue in the series is discovering the secrets she holds."[194]THEM Anime Reviews' Raphael See criticized the characterization of the wholeEvangelion cast for being "cliche", saying he did not understand the reasons for her great popularity.[195]Anime News Network's Kenneth Lee considered hercharacter arc a wasted opportunity, as he considered that "(Rei II, a 'dummy shell,' gaining a soul) could have had an entire series devoted to it".[43]
As writers fromAnime News Network were reviewing theRebuild of Evangelion films, they praised Rei's character development. OnEvangelion 1.0, Carlo Santos noticed that Rei's personality is the same as in the TV series, and "those who hated the originalEvangelion for its highly dysfunctional characters still won't find anything to like in this version". At the same time, Justin Sevakis praised her response to Shinji's kindness inEvangelion 2.0.[196][197] UKAnime Network describedRebuild's Rei as a more human character with whom it is easier to empathize.[198] The Fandom Post appreciated that she became progressively more independent from Gendo.[199] At the same time,Anime News Network's Mark Sombillo wrote: "Her personality and plight form much more of the core motivation of the story and despite her still tryingly hesitant attempts at communication, there's genuine warmth beneath her actions and it's hard not to be won over by her."[200]
Her role in the last installment of the saga,Evangelion 3.0+1.0, received a particularly positive reception from critics and reviewers, especially for its optimistic view.[201] Critics praised her journey and campy scenes in the film's first part as "immersive"[202] and "moving".[203]Crunchyroll's Daryl Harding described them as "one of the nicest parts of the film".[204]Paste magazine lauded the movie for showing Rei and the other pilots outside the militarized and violent context of the battles.[205] According toGizmodo, she has "the most complete journey" among those presented by3.0+1.0.[206] Otaquest's Chris Cimi similarly praised her character development, saying that her actions "make for something different and warm but stillEvangelion".[207]
Mania.com's Thomas Zoth wrote, "Rei Ayanami proved such a popular character that she started amerchandising boom."[1] Her image was used in a wide range of products, including toys,[208] t-shirts,[209]action figures,[210][211] musical instruments,[212] life-size statues,[213][214] makeup,[215] accessories,[135] and reproductions of her clothing.[216][217] On March 30, 2001,King Records launched an album entitledEvangelion: The Birthday of Rei Ayanami.[218] In 2012, a team built an 18-meter (59 ft) tall figure of the character outside of the NTV Tower in the Shiodome area of Tokyo as part of the Shiohaku Expo 2012 summer amusement event.[219] The following year, a reproduction of the girl's bedroom was built, and a life-size model was exhibited at the Eva Expo in Shanghai.[220] In 2020,Honda used Rei and other characters from the series for several commercials, which aired during a collaboration betweenEvangelion and theHonda Civic.[221]
In 2007, her costumes ranked first among the best-selling cosplay costumes of the year by the companyCospa.[216] Rei Ayanami's action figures also enjoyed success.[222][223] WriterThomas Lamarre wrote that Sadamoto's design for the character became "the sensation of the series", selling "an unprecedented number of figurines" and spurring expensive speculation about her character in the press and the world of anime criticism.[222] Scholar Patrick Galbraith has described the high sales of Ayanami merchandise as a turning point for the Japanese market since they helped to expand the figures and fanzines sector, with "entire fanzine conventions [...] committed to the series and its characters".[224][225] According to one estimate, plastic models beforeEvangelion sold about three thousand units, but Rei's figures reached ten times that amount. For Galbraith, "the series overlapped with a boom in figurines of anime characters and the spread of the Internet, makingotaku consumption and community more conspicuous".[226]Newtype USA magazine similarly wrote that: "Hordes ofotaku flooded Akihabara in search of the enigmatic Rei Ayanami, and companies realized for the first time that catering to thegeek crowd could be very profitable. [...] Akihabara itself has transformed from an 'electric town' famous for household appliances to the geek paradise it is today".[227]
In 2005, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the first airing ofEvangelion, manga artistMine Yoshizaki designed several action figures of the Angels with anthropomorphic appearances; among the various models, he devised a figure of the AngelLilith inspired by Rei's character design.[228] According to Japanese writer Kazuhisa Fujie, although models and toys in the series were a commercial failure at first, Rei's action figures immediately became so popular that they exceeded Evangelion's unit sales, thus creating the first and perhaps the only case of a robotic anime "where reproductions of the human characters outsold those of the robots."[229] Furthermore, books and magazines portraying her on the cover were successful. She also appeared on the cover of an issue ofRolling Stone's Japanese edition, among others.[230] An art book about her namedEvangelion Photograph – Rei (ＲＥＩ－レイ－ 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン文庫写真集) was published in 1997.[231] According to Fujie, sales of Rei-themed merchandise led Japanese media to call her "the girl who manipulates magazine sales at will", "the fastest route to the sold-out sign", and "the Premium Girl".[76]
Rei Ayanami had a significant influence on Japanese animation.[135] Following the fame gained byEvangelion, other characters with its aesthetic and character traits were created.[1][232] Critics regarded Rei and her success as the beginning of themoe phenomenon,[1] with the creation of characters according to definite stereotyped features easily recognizable and consumable by the Japaneseotaku audience. In the late 1990s, characters bearing a close resemblance to Rei were produced and consumed on a massive scale in comics, anime, and novelizations, both in the commercial market and thefanzine market.[233] According to Japanese scholar Hiroki Azuma, this output is not linked to a directEvangelion influence since "the emergence of Ayanami Rei did not influence many authors so much as change the rules of themoe elements sustainingotaku culture".[233] As a result, even authors who were not deliberately thinking ofEvangelion began to produce characters resembling Rei, using newly registeredmoe elements, such as a quiet personality, blue hair, white skin, mysterious power, and an absence of emotions.[135][233] Moreover, for Azuma, the twenty-sixth episode, in which an alternate reality with Rei running with a slice of bread in her mouth is shown, constitutes a turning point within theotaku culture. The scene, according to him, represents the point where the era of great stories ends and that ofmoe characters begins. From that point on, the emotional response to the protagonists became more important than the plot of the series.[234] He also regarded Ruriko Tsukishima fromShizuku as being directly influenced by Rei andRuri Hoshino ofMartian Successor Nadesico as a combination of both.[235][236]
Critics compared other characters to her, including Miharu inGasaraki,[237][238] Vanilla H inGalaxy Angel,[239] Maya inGeobreeders,[240]Neya inInfinite Ryvius,[241] Aruto Kirihara inKagihime Monogatari Eikyū Alice Rondo,[242]Riza Hawkeye inFullmetal Alchemist, Dorothy R. Wayneright inThe Big O,[243] Anthy Himemiya inRevolutionary Girl Utena,[42] Chise inSaikano,[244]Yuzuriha Inori inGuilty Crown,[245] Miyu inMy-HiME,[246] Ai inZaion: I Wish You Were Here,[247] Diya inButterfly Soup,[248] Yashiro Kasumi inMuv-Luv,[249] and the female cyborgs inGunslinger Girl.[20]Serial Experiments Lain's Lain Iwakura was also associated with the character;[250][251]Lain's principal screenwriter,Chiaki J. Konaka, stated he was not influenced byEvangelion, and although he appreciated their characteristics, he said he did not see similarities between the two characters.[252]Eureka fromEureka Seven has similarly been compared to Rei Ayanami, causing dissatisfaction in series screenwriterDai Satō.[253]Rurouni Kenshin's author,Nobuhiro Watsuki, comparedYukishiro Tomoe to Rei. He said Yukishiro became an Ayanami lookalike, with the sole unique feature being her black pupils. The author initially conceived of her as a "cool beauty", but once she revealed her true feelings, she became a different character.[254]
The Artifice writer Justin Wu regarded Rei as the prototypicalmukuchi (無口; "mouthless", "silent"), a term used by anime fans to describe reticent and emotionless characters, usually with a monotone voice, who speak to the point and avoid unnecessary conversations. Thismoe element, which gained wide popularity entirely after Rei's success, can be found in numerous subsequent female characters, including Eva inBlack Cat, Ai Enma inHell Girl, andYuki Nagato inHaruhi Suzumiya. Wu also wrote that Rei is responsible for expanding the anime merchandise market. He said that becauseEvangelion allows people to visualize unexplained details and Rei's enigmatic personality lets readers imagine different scenarios she would be in, includingerotic comics,Evangelion is a "doujin-friendly" series.[135] The character is also credited with popularizing thekuudere stereotype, a term for characters who hide their true feelings behind a melancholic and cold facade.[255][256] According to Kaichiro Morikawa, a Japanese architect and academic, characters with physical defects beforeEvangelion and Rei Ayanami were rare, such asChar Aznable inMobile Suit Gundam, who has a scar on his forehead, and Princess Kushana inNausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.[257] Justin Wu also noticed that the bandages gained significant popularity after the series's success, becoming the character's trademark and a common feature incosplays.[135]
The Japanese bandRey derived its name from her.[258] Singer and guitarist Motoo Fujiwara wrote the lyrics of the song "Arue", taking inspiration from Rei, with the English title "R.A." inspired by the initial letters of her name.[259] Ging Nang Boyz's albumDoor features a song named "Ano ko wa Ayanami Rei ga suki" (あの娘は綾波レイが好き;lit. "That girl likes Rei Ayanami"). According to the Japanese site Animentalism, the track "Ray" by rock bandLuna Sea, included as the B-side of their single "In Silence" and composed bySugizo, could be a tribute to Rei Ayanami.[260] Artists have produced fan art about her, includingOkama, Huke,Hiroya Oku,[261] andArina Tanemura.[262] Celebrities paid tribute to Rei by cosplaying her, includingShoko Nakagawa,[263]Natsuki Katō,[264] Miu Nakamura,[265][266]Yuuri Morishita,[267]Umika Kawashima,[268]Rio Uchida,[269] Kokoro Shinozaki,[270] andShōma Uno.[271] DuringVictoria's Secret Fashion Show 2012, English modelJourdan Dunn wore a dress similar to the character's plugsuit, a bodysuit worn by Evangelion pilots; Gainax only learned about the outfit from the Internet and was perplexed by the situation.[272][273]Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend references the character.[274] Rei's image appeared on a character's shirt from theVeronica's Closet series.[275] According toVogue, her plugsuit also inspired a piece of clothing for the spring 2016 line by the fashion houseLouis Vuitton.[276]
Originally, I had planned that the television version of episode 26 would end up being like [it was]. [...] I didn't expect at the time that Ayanami would become enormous, though. I felt, well, if we're going to do it let's make her the size of the planet.
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