Why are there so many Rei clones in anime?

Why are there so many Rei clones in anime?

Are there?

The public liked their debut in the lcl tank episode, so they kept getting more roles in following works.

The character-type is very appealing to Nip viewers.

its easy to write your character when they have no personality
and since the precedent has already been set its easy to keep getting away with it

Because they made too many and Ritsuko couldn't dispose of them all.

>implying you wouldnt have infinite sex dolls

...

Yes.

Are you stupid? Asuka has way more clones.

Because she was a cool character concept. Too bad many forgot there was a good reason why she was so introverted and it wasn't just a moe trait.

Same reason why there are so many Reí clones in Eva

Gendo couldn't stop getting his dick wet?

Many of the Rei clones exist only as a part of their character arc. Is this universal for Rei clones? Do they follow a development where they gain more personality over the course of the series.
What anime was the first to feature a Rei clone? I think the oldest I've seen was Evangelion, was there any before that? And did Rei have any development, like Eureka, Mytho and Yuki had?
(I think these are the only 4 Rei clones I remember)

>are there any Rei clones older than Rei
It'd be mighty fucking suspicious if there were clones before the original wouldn't you think?

Rei was originally meant to subvert the "perfect Japanese woman ideal" known as the Yamato Nadeshika. The point was to show that a woman who holds herself to those standards would come off as creepy and unapproachable. Ironically, guys loved it. Shows you how much Anno understands heterosexual men.

>The point was to show that a woman who holds herself to those standards would come off as creepy and unapproachable

Anno has literally never stated that. And Evangelion is full of fanservice of underage girls, he understood how to appeal just fine.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Not really, it's actually a lot more difficult than writing yet-another-cliche tsundere.

Spock is more popular than Kirk. The levelheaded guy always trumps the brazen one, even if both will be liked.

The most shallow Anime characters are at the top in first place

>Rei was originally meant to subvert the "perfect Japanese woman ideal" known as the Yamato Nadeshika.

But that's not true. Rei was intended to subvert the idea of a replaceable clone, something common in science fiction. It's been seen in everything from Gundam to zany one-off OVA's, but Evangelion did something amazing: rather than have the "clone" be replaceable, they had it be irreplaceable.

When one usually encounters a clone in Science Fiction, like in "The 6th Day", "The Island" or even "Solaris", it is a given that the clone has no value. The clone can be replaced, any time, anywhere with a new copy, and no one will tell the difference - except for the viewer of course, who feels discomfort.

So what did Evangelion do different here? Well, in place of having the clone (Rei) be replaced with another clone, the clone effectively replaces itself. The clones we see are not "new" Reis, but merely spare parts to reconstruct the existing Rei. Rei's soul and conscious moves from body to body, always recreating the same person: Rei Ayanami. The story then contrasts this with Asuka, a girl who proclaims herself to be #1 and irreplaceable - but as the story shows, Asuka was the first one to be replaced, because she had no value. Asuka was one of many that could be discarded to be replaced with a new person, any time.

We then understand that Rei, despite outward appearances and what we know from previous Science Fiction, can NOT be replaced, and must always be reincarnated, the entire cliche is turned upside down. Ultimately, the "real" girl is nothing more than a discardable tool, while Rei, the clone, becomes the person who ultimately defeats the oppressing father figure of the story.

The original Evangelion is a work of art because of ideas like these, not because it's a waifu simulator.

It made her first two deaths seem cheap and unimportant.
It was an asspull.

That's not a rule. There are excellent anime characters on the top at times, some being for instance Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami, from the same series. Who or what is shallow is not determined by popularity but by the individual substance of the character in question.

Now, if you ask yourself: "What type of character is there more of, expressionless characters or expressionful characters?" - the answer is obviously the latter, isn't it? Since from before Evangelion, the popular characters has always been the more fun, outgoing and as well the more active characters. These characters are a dime and dozen and is the bread and butter of the anime industry.

Characters like Rei are not the norm, they are the exception. Rei herself represented a paradigm change in what the audience could find attractive in a character. Who'd think that a near emotionless, depressed wreck could be the top favorite character? Anno didn't, I'm sure.

People took note of the Rei clones precisely because they were unusual, and a departure from the norm. It is for this precise reason no one will ever be surprised that happy, funny or energetic characters become popular. It's the norm.

NERV needs funding

What? No one agrees with that, and feels that her death was quick and brutal. It was, if you recall from the series.

Yawn. Stopped reading at the second sentence.

So Gainax sold them to other studios?

Makes sense.

she became omnipotent at the end of EoE

It feels dumb because you know she'll just come back to life
Reminds me of Fairy Tail

t. Butthurt Rei-hater

Don't be stupid. You don't know that from the start, so you only know afterwards. Even so, it's not like Rei just "comes back". She's evidently traumatized, and it invites you to reflect on how such a character would feel if they went through the same thing.

It's absolutely brilliant, and an amazing subversion of what is a very tired and flawed cliche in Science Fiction.

tl;dr
Rei-clones are the exception, not the rule.

They're difficult to write because their personalities demand an good explanation as opposed to characters like Asuka.

This is the dumbest fucking meme ever, and it needs to die.

...

I did, they showed her dying as a kid even though she was alive in the present?
It was predictable like Fairy Tail.

Stupid show stupid fans stupid characters.

it's a literal meme

Because she's an easy pander to no-life virgin otakus, who want a submissive doll.

t. antifa Reifag

You've got the wrong aisle, Asuka is over there being a submissive doll and sex relief for no-life virgin otakus.

Rei's death in the past is left up in the air, only Naoko is shown to die.

Stop being a butthurt liar please, the point stands regardless of what you think.

Only good Rei clone

Yeah Rei having more emotions than a comatose girl is such an achievement.
How could Asukafans ever recover?

>How could Asukafans ever recover?

They didn't. They've been taking out their sourness and hatred from 20 years ago, on Rei fans, ever since. They're like butthurt robots on repeat, unfortunately.

Rei Q is not that bad!!

Thanks for providing evidence of Asukafag butthurt.

Rei is qt

Rei Q ain't that bad
Rei fans are just sad

Nothing wrong with Rei Q.

see and also The point is a reversal of the traditional roles. Rei is a clone, and Asuka is not. Hence, the ignorant viewer, here represented by Asuka wold mistakenly assume that Rei is a puppet, because she's got no will. Right? That's how it's been in other science fiction stories.

BUT

Evangelion blows everyone the fuck out, by making ASUKA the puppet, and Rei the willful and strong individual. Asuka was a doll who simply followed her NERV programming, while Rei has broken out and now lives her own life independent of what everyone else wanted her to. For this reason, we've got Asukafags butthurt 20 years later:

Why are you even sad? Rei Q is fine.

Because she was a phenomenal breakthrough.
She was the most popular character ever and ruled over all the charts and merch sales and everything for over a decade with the largest following fan base willing to buy anything with her or remotely related to her.

And she is still popular. Some show even still feature Rei-like characters.

Rei Q is the evidence that Asuka / Kaworu could never be better than Rei, so they LITERALLY had to make up a new phony Rei so Kaworu and Asuka fanscould feel better about themselves. Pretty sad actually, how desperately you cling to a fake Rei.

Rei Q is a wonderful character. Even my captcha knows she is. Check it out.

>other eva thread dies
>kaworufags and asukafags locusts come to shit up yet-another-eva-thread

Sup Forums will never be rid of this pest.

Yeah, I'm saying Rei fans are sad for being butthurt over Rei Q

For all the shit Rei Q takes, it's still a better character than either Asuka or Kaworu. Even a literal mockery of Rei is a better character than the favorite of Asuka and Kaworufags.

>for all the shit Rei Q takes
She was based off of literal shit, what did you expect?

Some times i wonder if Kaworufags and Asukafags just thread hop all day for new Eva threads to shitpost in.

No, actually Anno made her because he hates Rei's character and the otaku waifufags that surround her.

Finally you get it. Rei Q ain't that bad.

Rei Q was based off the butthurt of Asukafags that hated the character, so yeah, I didn't expect anything else. What's sad is that this mockery is a better character than Asuka or Kaworu.

Rei Q is shit, make no mistake, but it's still better than Kaworu and Asuka.

Sure, if that makes you feel better. Not to mention that literally every character is better than an emotionless doll. Even characters not as good as Asuka/Kaworu.

Anno made Rei Q because he's really envious of how well Rei was made, and how much more loved she was than either of his favorites. He's a giant otaku hiimself and promotes otaku activity more than ever, so he's got no right to complain if otaku like Rei as well.

Rei Q is an improvement to an underwhelming and lackluster base. Rei can't even be considered a human, let alone a character, now can she?

>Rei Q is shit, make no mistake, but it's still better than Kaworu and Asuka.
Why do you dislike Kaworu and Asuka so much, aside from their fanbase?

To top off OP's and other's post, there's no proof of popularity more than a literal mountain of asinine haters:

No one even mentioned Kekworu in this thread. You guys sure are seeing things

Kaworu and Asuka are both exceptionally shitty characters in the Rebuilds. That's what I mean. So shitty that even a mockery like Rei Q is better than them.

Reifags as deluded and angry as ever.
They can't accept that Rei Q ain't that bad after all.

Rei II is the mockery user, I know they sound similar.

Only than the New Asuka.

It is funny how Anno basically gutted Asuka even worse than Rei with pokanami to make her more appealing to an audience.

She used to be a sick bitch with somewhat of a story and character behind.
Now she's just a run of the mill tsundere with more action scenes and suits and IT MADE HER MORE POPULAR

That's really funny and sad.

Do you remember THE OLD Asukafags?
They have it even tougher than blue people. Reifags could stick together and forn a purist resistance, Asukafags have probably all killed thamselves and their waifu is almost forgotten by now.

Notice how this is NOT a Kuronami figure.
And even with the new suit she sticks to the old Rei antiques like the spear and bandages.

Not speaking for the other guy, but in the original, Asuka was a poor person, albeit a decent characters. I accepted it. Kaworu simply was. But in the Rebuilds, they're pretty damned shallow, engineered only to attract hordes and hordes of otaku. So yeah, that's why I don't like them.

The Kaworu/Asuka fans here on Sup Forums are another story, they're atrocious and live to shitpost.

Whenever you see people saying "Rei Q was not that bad!" or "Nothing wrong with..:" etc... it's either a Kaworufag or an Asukafag behind it. They made a pact to shitpost that sentence every time there's a Rei thread.

#StopThePrivilege

>Do you remember THE OLD Asukafags?
>They have it even tougher than blue people.

The old Asukafags never cared, user. All they wanted was to be catered to, and when they got it, they all jumped ship.

>They can't accept that Rei Q ain't that bad after all.
She isn't that bad because nobody accepted her and she was dismissed entirely.

She failed to Replace Rei or drive a wedge into our fanbase.
that's why she isn't bad see

>The old Asukafags never cared, user. All they wanted was to be catered to, and when they got it, they all jumped ship.

Some did care.
You cant hear from them now at all.
They probably have left forever.

The BEST GIRL.

Rei Ayanami.

Kaworu fans and Asukafans, STILL killing themselves trying to catch up.

But Shinji #1
Shinji is my son

They never existed user. The discontent Asuka fans only complained because they thought they weren't getting their shipping fill. Now that they've gotten blood on their teeth, they're out on a rage shitposting in every thread they can.

Rei Q (and Q in general) is a manifestation of the Asukafag butthurt. That's why they'll defend it to death.

Then you shouldn't have abandoned him, Gendo.

Rei #1, Shinji #1

That's how you know all's right with Evangelion.

Idiots.

Is that Rei clone?

no

The shame and embarrasment of a thousand butthurt Kaworu and Asuka fans will echo through the halls of this hallowed out imageboard for decades to come.

yes

maybe

Rei would vote for Jill Stein

Thank you for that, that was great.

Hi, EternaLEnvY
Lost any games recently?

>"Rei was meant to be creepy as a fuck you to fanboys"
>Her entire arc is about how she's not a doll and her oen person

The eternal Asukafag hatred against Rei.

>oen person

Have a cute Rei and Asuka:

Asurei is the OTP

Disgusting.

You prefer incest?

Over Asurei? Obviously. Rei x Shinji isn't incest anyway.

:/ D: :B :V

Test

Wow, I can now post

Why'd you get banned, user?