“I Am Not Your Doll”: Ayanami Rei, Anime Girls, and the Paradox of Emptiness
You can read the first essay in this series here. This essay will be reworked into a book I’m writing about EVA.
Ayanami Rei from the series Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most iconic characters in anime history. Scholars of anime and Japanese culture argue that NGE and the fandom surrounding Rei in the 1990s was a key moment in bringing global attention to otaku culture—both as a cultural phenomenon worth critical analysis and a commercial opportunity.
Throughout the series and upon its close, Japanese fans clamored for more of Rei—buying up art, figurines, life-size dolls, posters, clothing and other merchandise. Gainax released a Neon Genesis Evangelion: Ayanami Raising Project, a simulation game where players spend time with her and oversee her daily schedule, training, etc.
What is it about Rei that people love so much? Rei is companion of NGE’s main protagonist Shinji Ikari, a 14 year old boy tasked by a secret government agency NERV to stop the world from being destroyed. Most of Rei’s interactions with Shinji are cold; she’s not necessarily mean but has a kind of pure, almost lifeless, indifference. She isolates herself at their school and they hardly ever talk. In a scene where Shinji accidentally falls on Rei’s naked body (she startled him after…
