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 I was the result of the failed salvage operation of Yui Ikari from Eva-01.
Rei is disinterested in school, seemingly spending the majority of the school day looking out the window, yet Rei can read German and has an interest in genetics which she reads books about during the school lunch break. One of the books we see her reading in episode 8 contains illustrations of RNA/amino acid translation codons and a plasmid. Toji says Rei has had no friends at school since she started during the 7th grade. Rei is often absent from Class 2-A later in the series as she spends more and more time in the Dummy Plug Plant.
Rei has few possessions. Rei possesses her school uniform which consists of a dark green pinafore with long shirt and a red ribbon, along with a hospital gown which she sleeps in (see End of Evangelion). Rei has a standard school satchel that is organised neatly as opposed to Asuka's. Rei has a pair of white plimsoll shoes that she wears to school and a pair of brown slippers that she wears in her apartment. Rei owns white socks but is never seen wearing them. Rei owns predominantly white underwear but also possesses mauve and beige coloured underwear. Rei has five books on top of her dresser, all of which are heavily indexed with pieces of paper suggesting her extensive study of them, the same dresser where Rei places Gendo's glasses when she does not have them on her person.
Gendo's glasses act for Rei as a security blanket, helping her through the Eva-00 activation experiment. Rei cherishes Gendo's glasses as they act as a symbol for someone caring about her well being (even while Gendo's actions to save Rei can be interpreted very differently), which Shinji Ikari chips away at in the series, most notably when he cleans her apartment and Rei says "thank you", words which she realises she has never used, not even with Gendo.
Rei's activation history with Eva-00 is peppered with disaster. It took Rei seven months for her to first synchronise with her Eva. Despite this Rei is charged with the job of piercing Lilith with the recovered Spear of Longinus, she is also charged with destroying the Angel Armisael with the Spear of Longinus. Rei also knows of true nature of the Project E better than any of the other Children. Rei, in comparison to Asuka, is much better informed as to layout of Nerv and the Geofront judging from Episode 11. Rei is well informed on Nerv's operational procedure compared to the other Children.
Rei dislikes eating meat. Series creator Hideaki Anno as well as Nadia from Gainax's previous work Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water are known for being vegetarians.
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto has spoken of the inspiration and influences that shaped Rei's character design.
| “ | The first time you see Rei, she is all bandaged up. The group Kinniku Shojo Tai has a song called Hotai de Masshiro na Shojo [The Girl White with Bandages]. When I heard that song, an image popped into my mind; I thought, "I'd like to draw a girl like that," and then I drew Rei from that image.
[...] I played around with this character I called "Ukina." She came from a story I wrote a long time ago for NewType magazine called Koto no Oni [The Orge on the Desert Isle]. You take Ukina, give her shaggy, bobbed, wolf-like hair, and it's Rei. Really, I just played with her a bit -- with the way the eyes are drawn. The basic character is the same. Her character was locked in as translucent -- like 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 hold. -- interview with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto printed in Volume II of the manga. |
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In the same interview Yoshiyuki also speaks of the decision for Rei to have red eyes.
| “ | There were two things that went into the decision to make her eyes red: one is the fact she didn't have enough outstanding features, and the second is from a business standpoint, the makers of the Eva computer game wanted her differentiated from the other characters.
-- interview with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto printed in Volume II of the manga. |
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Due to Rei's red eyes and pale skin she is often mistaken for having a form of albinism.
| “ | Whatever else, [Rei Ayanami] needs to be painted as a bitterly unhappy young girl with little sense of presence.
-- Hideaki Anno |
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Rei's stoic personality, submissive nature and delicate appearance has lead to her being one of the most popular characters in Evangelion fandom. Often overlooked by the fandom however is Rei's aggression during the series, her wish to die, and her lack of concern for her own well-being: all of which conflicts with many in the fandom's view that Rei is merely a robot who would be subservient to their desires.
Incarnations
Rei I
Rei I is the first vessel of Rei Ayanami. Rei I appears for the first time in Episode 21 and later in Episode 25, lastly appearing in Episode 26'. Rei I also likely provided the soul for Unit-00. (See The Soul in Evangelion Unit-00 for details.)
Rei II
Rei II is the second vessel of Rei Ayanami yet the first encountered during the series. Rei II is the "Rei" seen during the majority of the series, from Episode 01 through to the first half of Episode 23.
Rei III
Rei III is the third vessel of Rei Ayanami. Rei III appears from the second half of Episode 23 through to The End of Evangelion.
Rei's depiction in the Manga
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 severly 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.
A more detailed analysis of Rei's character in the Manga can be found in Rei's emotions.
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.
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.
- 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).
- 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".
- Throughout the series, in order to prepare the audience for the revelation that Rei Ayanami's soul is that of Lilith, Rei is associated with the recurring visual motif of 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's emotions.
- For an interpretation of Rei's monologue or poem:
- See Rei's Monologue.
- For an interpretation of the relationship between Gendo and Rei:
- For a dicussion over whether Rei I's soul is present in Eva-00:
- 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, perhaps a reference to their opposite personalities.
- Rei II's and III'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 |
