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Cardcaptor Takato
Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 4817
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 10:18 pm
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Misato will always be my favorite but Asuka is a worthy number one and I’m glad she won it. Having said that, I feel like the criticism of Rei being emotionaless or being a fetish character feels unfair to her and seems to miss the point of her character that Rei is a subversion of the silent moe girl trope rather than an idealizing of it. Even in both the show and the movies Rei is portrayed as slowly opening up to Shinji and the others and the truth about her is always portrayed as a horrifying tragedy. I feel like the criticism of Rei seems to conflate the way the brand markets her in merch and character goods versus the way she is in the actual show.
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AkumaChef
Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2020 11:26 am
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Cardcaptor Takato wrote: | Misato will always be my favorite but Asuka is a worthy number one and I’m glad she won it. Having said that, I feel like the criticism of Rei being emotionaless or being a fetish character feels unfair to her and seems to miss the point of her character that Rei is a subversion of the silent moe girl trope rather than an idealizing of it. Even in both the show and the movies Rei is portrayed as slowly opening up to Shinji and the others and the truth about her is always portrayed as a horrifying tragedy. I feel like the criticism of Rei seems to conflate the way the brand markets her in merch and character goods versus the way she is in the actual show. |
Most of the main characters in Evangelion take a given stereotype (or fetish, if you prefer) and dial it up to 11, and different people have different preferences in that regard. Rei and Asuka are pretty much polar opposites so it makes sense that many people will have a strong preference for one versus the other. Sure, some people might criticize Rei for being cold and emotionless but there are plenty of others who criticize Asuka for being a bitch. But like you said, the characters do show growth beyond their initial stereotypes so it's sort of unfair to label any of them.
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Cardcaptor Takato
Joined: 27 Jan 2018
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2020 12:27 am
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AkumaChef wrote: |
Most of the main characters in Evangelion take a given stereotype (or fetish, if you prefer) and dial it up to 11, and different people have different preferences in that regard. Rei and Asuka are pretty much polar opposites so it makes sense that many people will have a strong preference for one versus the other. Sure, some people might criticize Rei for being cold and emotionless but there are plenty of others who criticize Asuka for being a bitch. But like you said, the characters do show growth beyond their initial stereotypes so it's sort of unfair to label any of them. |
As someone who's always been a Misato fan, I've never been all that invested in the Rei vs Asuka fight and I feel like they both have their strengths and weaknesses and I'm more interested in examining their characters in all their complexities. I'm also sad no one seems to like Hikari.
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AkumaChef
Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2020 10:23 am
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Cardcaptor Takato wrote: |
]As someone who's always been a Misato fan, I've never been all that invested in the Rei vs Asuka fight and I feel like they both have their strengths and weaknesses and I'm more interested in examining their characters in all their complexities. I'm also sad no one seems to like Hikari. |
Yeah, I never really cared about the Rei/Asuka battle either. I think they both have strong points and weak points. And yeah, the complexities of all the eva characters are one of the reasons why I think the show was and remains so popular and influential. Some elements of the characters are exaggerated for dramatic effect but fundamentally the characters are very human, and they're also dynamic as well. Their behavior and even personalities change as the plot progresses.
I like Hikari too but I think the reason why she doesn't seem to be as popular as the others is simply because she doesn't get as much screen time as Askua, Rei, Misato. Kaworu doesn't get much screen time either, but as the show's only real bishonen, and as ideal fodder for BL, it's there's no doubt he's going to be popular.
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