LoganPayne wrote:Anyone who believes R/S usually doesn't have a grasp of the characters.
I saw this in SSD's signature and decided that if it was sig-worthy, it was also discussion-worthy. So let's get a grasp of the characters. I admit that Shinji x Asuka was a favorite pairing of mine not too long ago, as it's one of the few that's actually alluded to in the show and movie. It seems to be a fairly common one (bordering on "obvious") among a lot of other people as well. For that reason, I was surprised to find out that I didn't believe such a pairing was logical, or even supported by canon. In other words, I believed in it until I got a grasp of the characters.
But does the same hold true for Rei and Shinji? Clearly we have a sort of Oedipus complex going on, if you buy the "Rei being a clone of Yui means that Shinji x Rei == Shinji x Yui" argument, but it really doesn't seem like that to me. Rei's actions remind Shinji of a mother, but he doesn't feel like she's HIS mother. To Shinji, Rei is just another teenager, albeit a quiet, mysterious one. This is supported by the couple of incidents where Shinji is caught looking at Rei, and he hastily denies it before getting all contemplative. So Rei x Shinji is possible from Shinji's end.
But Rei? How does she feel about Shinji? I suppose you could chalk up most of her actions to her being a clone of Yui: Slapping Shinji for badmouthing Gendo, sitting by Shinji's bed when he's in the hospital, protecting Shinji against Ramiel and other Angels, and so on. But is there more? I think Ep. 25 dealt with this, though I've only seen it twice, and don't really remember it all that well.
However, Shinji seemed to be more comfortable around and seemed to click better with Rei than he did with Asuka. Yes, I KNOW this is probably because Rei is like Yui. Stop trying to convince me. But since Shinji x Asuka is considered feasible, why not Shinji x Rei? Is there anything in the show or movie that would indicate that such a pairing isn't likely or possible?