Rei Ayanami

Rei Ayanami
綾波レイ
Age	14 (biologically)
Birthday	Unknown
Seiyū	Megumi Hayashibara

Rei Ayanami is the First Children of the Marduk Report and designated pilot of Evangelion Prototype Unit-00. Rei has a sustained but somewhat sporadic appearance in the TV series.

Profile

All files pertaining to Rei have been erased, making her origins officially a mystery. We can extrapolate for the series, however, that Rei 1 was the result of the failed salvage operation of Yui Ikari from Eva-01. A disheveled room in a place called the "Third Annex", located in the bowels of Central Dogma, is said to have been the place where Rei was "born", and has an overall resemblance to the apartment Rei later lives in.

While other characters in the series have issues with their identities, Rei Ayanami’s might be the most difficult, perhaps insurmountable. At least, that is the problem with her second and third incarnations, which will be discussed mostly as a collective pair. Though the first Rei was not internally explored while she existed, in Episode 25 she is portrayed as being more aware of her nature, and cynical about any attempts to deny the fragility of her identity.

With a soul from Lilith and a body cloned from Yui Ikari, Rei has no original elements to claim as hers, and can easily be replaced by a clone if she dies. Though Rei is unaware of some aspects of her construction, she still perceives her identity as 'more fragile than others', with a vague idea that there is something that she doesn’t know about herself.

Outwardly Rei usually appears cool and aloof, but she is easily confused by emotions and detached from her own. When her mind was entered by the Angel Armisael Rei was made to truly feel the loneliness that had always existed in her. Returning from this vision, Rei shed tears at one of the few times in her life. Episode 25 further shows that Rei has a deep despair and a wish to return to nothingness. She also has little concern for her own life, and for her own comfort and personal space.

Rei 2 perhaps seeks to stave off this despair by investing herself completely in one person, living entirely for their needs so that she can find a reason for her existence and belief that she is being valued first as "Rei Ayanami" and no one else. Rei 2 began this with Gendo Ikari, and Rei 2 kept his warped glasses from the day when Gendo went to check on her after Eva-00 forcibly ejected her Entry Plug in an accident that took place before the series' present.

But eventually Rei 2 began to turn towards Shinji Ikari and her third incarnation continued this choice, passing the ability to decide Instrumentality from father to son as well. In this, Rei 3 also destroyed the glasses that her predecessor treasured.

In either case Rei Ayanami’s fate was the same: to bring Lilith’s soul "home". Though the image of Rei appeared in various forms during Third Impact, it is unclear how much of Rei’s identity survived in Lilith, and whether it was Rei or Lilith interacting with Shinji.

Rei has a tendency to speak in universal, rather than personal, terms, possibly reflecting the true origin of her soul. One of the biggest examples occurs in Episode 14 with a monologue that has Rei exploring her character, but also speaking of nature and the earth. She also describes her reason for piloting as "a bond" not just to Gendo, but with "all people".

Incarnations

Rei 1

Rei 1 is the first vessel of Rei Ayanami. Rei 1 appears for the first time in Episode 21 and later in Episode 25, lastly appearing in Episode 26'. Rei 1 also likely provided the soul for Unit-00. (See Eva-00's soul for details.)

Rei 2

Rei 2 is the second vessel of Rei Ayanami yet the first encountered during the series. Rei 2 is the "Rei" seen during the majority of the series, from Episode 01 through to the first half of Episode 23.

Rei 3

Rei 3 is the third vessel of Rei Ayanami. Rei 3 appears from the second half of Episode 23 through to The End of Evangelion.

Rei's depiction in the anime

For information regarding Rei's psychology and for a examination of her character throughout the anime:

See Rei Ayanami (In-Depth)

In other media

Rei Ayanami features in much of the officially licensed Gainax media.

• Rei features as a character in all officially licensed Eva manga: Evangelion Academy, Angelic Days, and Shinji Ikari Raising Project.

• Ayanami Raising Project is a dating game licensed by Gainax that features Rei as the main character.

• Neon Genesis Evangelion on the N64 features Rei and Eva-00 as playable characters.

• Akihabara Hobby released a 1:1 scale model of Rei in 2007 (along with a large model of Eva-01) as part of Gainax's Eva Works series.

• The OST The Birthday of Rei Ayanami features recordings of A Cruel Angel's Thesis, Tamashii No Refrain, and Fly Me to the Moon sung by Megumi Hayashibara, Rei's voice actress. The OST also features most of the music in NGE that came to be associated with Rei.

There is also much unofficial media circulating which is cantered around or featuring Rei: garage kit models, dojinshi, etc.

Manga adaption

Rei bleeds from her injured eye.

In the manga adaptation by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Rei's character comes off as being a much warmer and more open, at least with regards to Shinji and despite having the same initial reaction to Shinji in the anime, she soon becomes Shinji's romantic interest.

Unique to the manga, in Vol. 01 she pilots Eva-01 against Sachiel and loses, her injuries seemingly being a direct result of the defeat. Though Vol. 03 of the manga includes the Eva-00 berserk incident from Ep. 05 of the anime, and seems to be implying that she received her injuries at that time. If so, then she was piloting Eva-01 while badly injured, and when Gendo tried to shame Shinji into piloting, he was threatening to send a severely injured Rei into battle for the second time that day! Including the Ep. 05 material may have been an attempt by Sadamoto to retroactively correct the source of Rei's injuries to match the anime.

For information regarding Rei's psychology and for a examination of her character throughout manga:

See Rei Ayanami (In-Depth)

Rei in other Eva based Manga

Most notorious is Rei's appearance in the Girlfriend of Steel 2 Manga. She is regarded by some as being Rei in Appearance Only, in that while she shares the same basic character design, her entire personality is different. Being based on the AU from Episode 26, Girlfriend of Steel 2 depicts Rei as a bubbly and excitable transfer student to Shinji's school, almost a mirror image of her character in the original animé series.

In the latest High School of Death Manga, Rei is seen to be acting in a much more Rei-like manner.

Rei in Rebuild of Evangelion

Rei as seen in Rebuild of Evangelion is much the same as her anime counterpart. So far, she has been seen to have the same relationships with Gendo Ikari, and maintains much the same distance from her classmates. Rei sits on her own while other members of her class are swimming, or talking in groups.

File:Eva1-01 Reibrightened.jpg

Rei smiles warmly at Shinji Ikari after Operation Yashima ends.

Two important differences are worth noting. After the battle with Sachiel, Shinji is visited by an apparition of Rei in the first of the Personal Hell traincar scenes in the movie series. Yui is heard repeating the names Shinji Ayanami, and Rei Ikari. Gendo replies how Shinji would've been named Rei, if he had been born a girl. It is possible this voice is of Yui Ikari within Evangelion Unit-01, but this hasn't been confirmed. Finally, in the few moments before Shinji wakes up in the infirmary, an apparition of a naked, and somewhat disturbing and demented looking Rei appears before him, in much the same way as the moment Eva-00 runs berserk in Episode 14.

Also, finally in the final scene where Shinji is with Rei in the entry plug of Eva-00, Rei is depicted holding the hand of Shinji Ikari.

Notes

• Rei in Japanese (レイ) is sometimes a synonym for "zero". Fitting, as Rei is the pilot of Eva-00. "Rei" spelled with different Kanji is the word for "spirit" (霊). Rei's name thus becomes a double pun, she is the pilot of Eva-00, and the vessel for the spirit of Lilith.
  • Rei Ayanami's first name comes from the character Rei Hino of the anime and manga series Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. This was done in an effort to get one of the series directors, Kunihiko Ikuhara, to work on Evangelion [1]. While this effort failed, some of the staff and voice actors of Sailor Moon did work on Eva as well, including one of Sailor Moon's series directors' Jun'ichi Satoh under the pen-name Kiichi Jinme. As well as the voice actresses Kotono Mitsuishi (Usagi Tsukino) and Megumi Ogata (Haruka Tenoh).
    • In the original Japanese dub of the series the characters refer to Eva-00 using the half-English term "zerogouki" ("-gouki" = "unit"). "Reigouki", however, wouldn't be an entirely inaccurate alternate rendering of it's name.

• Ayanami (綾波) literally means "twill wave", the Kanji meaning "twill" and "wave". Ayanami was one of the Fubuki class destroyers of the former Imperial Japanese Navy. The Nihon Kaigun website's page on warship names[2] gives the (nonliteral) alternative "wave patterns" or waves "whose beauty suggests figures woven in silk".

• For a discussion over whether Rei 1's soul is present in Eva-00:

See Eva-00's soul.

• For information regarding Rei's repeated association with the Moon:

See Rei and the Moon for more details.

• For information regarding Rei's psychology and for a examination of her character throughout the TV series and manga:

See Rei Ayanami (In-Depth)

• For an interpretation of Rei's monologue or poem:

See Rei's Monologue.

• For an interpretation of the relationship between Gendo and Rei:

See Rei's relationship with Gendo.

• In Episode 01, Rei mysteriously appears before Shinji in a brief instant before disappearing once more. This same scene is repeated during the final scene of Episode 26'. This effectively creates two "bookends" at either end of the series.

See Rei's Ghostly Appearances and Quantum Mechanics for more information.

• Rei’s blue hair and red eyes are the inverse of Asuka Langley Soryu’s blue eyes and red hair, a visual reminder of their opposite personalities.

• Rei 2's and 3's height is 145cm (4'9").

Characters

Main characters: Shinji Ikari | Rei Ayanami | Asuka Langley Soryu

Nerv staff: Misato Katsuragi | Gendo Ikari | Ritsuko Akagi | Kozo Fuyutsuki | Ryoji Kaji | Maya Ibuki | Makoto Hyuga | Shigeru Aoba

Classmates: Toji Suzuhara | Kensuke Aida | Hikari Horaki

Other characters: Kaworu Nagisa | Yui Ikari | Naoko Akagi | Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu | Dr. Katsuragi | Mr. Langley | Keel Lorenz | Pen Pen

Rebuild of Evangelion: Asuka Shikinami Langley | Mari Makinami Illustrious | Sakura Suzuhara | Ryoji Kaji (Jr)

Miscellaneous: Minor Characters | Minor Characters (Rebuild) | Extracanonical Characters

Theory and Analysis: Name Origins (Warships) | Designs | Relationships | Profiles

Resources: 2015: The Last Year of Ryohji Kaji