Rei I

Rei, Beyond the Heart

These episodes seem to end so quickly. They must have done something right for such a series to hold my attention.

I thought Shinji was void of a definable personality early on, but Rei is even more so. She’s like a blank slate. She has no past, but it wasn’t said if this included removing her memories. She acts almost as if she’s just a shell, a person with no soul. She’s seen smiling when talking with Shinji’s father, someone she looks up to enough to slap Shinji for not believing in his father’s work. It’s unknown whether she looked up to him before he burned his own hands to save her, but Rei’s been with Nerv since the prior year. Her Eva has 2014 on it, and it’s possible she started out at the age of 13 training to be a pilot.

Every time Shinji goes out against an Angel, his Eva is injured, and the pain transfers to Shinji. If two Angels attacked fifteen years prior, then Rei has no battle experience, only potential training experience, with Eva 00. Even then, if she hasn’t been able to properly connect with and activate the Eva, she may have no actual experience at all.

Rei keeps to herself, except when Shinji’s father is concerned. Shinji keeps to himself, but is open to the idea of communicating with his classmates, and the people around him. Rei appears to only want to be with Shinji’s father, the one person Shinji has trouble around the most. If Shinji wishes to be a family with his father, then Rei not only has what he wants, but can be an obstacle. Will Shinji try to impress his father? He doesn’t seem the type to do anything against Rei.