Considerable time has past since I wrote this article. At the time I wrote it I could honestly say, "My history as a Rei fan is relatively short." This is no longer true. Still, the story might be of interest so I will leave the details as they were, but correct for grammar and style.

My interest in Neon Genesis Evangelion began around 1997, when I came across a web site with brief information on the series. Of all the selections offered on the site, I chose NGE because I recognized the word "Genesis". I must admit that the site did not prepare me for the psychological drama that I was about to enter, and it was a particular character which drew me to the story.

The character was not Rei, as might be expected, but Misato. I found her mysterious and deep, as well as humorous. Shinji I like as well, mostly because I saw his insecurity as refreshing to the cocky, self-congratulatory crap represented by The Power Rangers, which I had hated as a child. With Rei I was not impressed, mostly because of her popularity and apparent lack of characterization. It wasn't until a year later when I would actually see the series that I would see how wrong I had been.

A character who seems to feel nothing, who fights because she is told to, and who behaves as if she is a doll would, in a common story, be simply that. Because NGE is not a common story, her circumstances and interior dialog are important in deciphering her true identity (as they should be in good story telling). Rei cannot be understood simply through a list of facts, but by considering the "why's" of those facts.

Miss Ayanami isn't a character everyone can like and I doubt she was meant to be such a person. Instead, she a spring board to further thought and perhaps even discussion, with conclusions being the individual's. It is because of such characters as Rei, Shinji, and Asuka that NGE has such wide appeal. Even though my interests have moved on a bit, I still include the mysterious Miss Ayanami as one of my favorite characters.

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