Shinji and Rei's Relationship

Overview

Shinji and Rei's relationship is a major point of interest in the first six episodes, but, over time, specially with the introduction of Asuka Langley Soryu, it ends up in the background. Anyway, the character of Rei is always on the lookout, with a general development of his personality and her relationship with the Ikari, father and son.

During the first arc of the story, Shinji seems to be very committed in understanding her character, and somehow also seems to want to teach her to be more responsive to human relations. Over time, this concern seems to resonates with Rei, and her personality becomes more and more zealous, until its resolution, in episode 23. From that point, the character of Rei 2 is replaced by Rei 3, and a new character arc begins. This new Rei, again, was to be a blank slate, but she carries with her some of her counterpart's experiences, which results in her final decision, in End of Evangelion, which has a vital impact on the future of humanity.

The results and consequences of this will be explored below, in an episode-by-episode analysis of the development progress of both characters.

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