>>2337696Rei was the heroine in the manga. Really, reading it again and you can tell she has the most exposure. Asuka is more of a side character and her relevance was lessened a lot compared to NGE because her relationship with Shinji got turned into a normal friendship while Rei and Shinji have that super strong bond going on and really touching scenes. Ending was weak as hell though, and others already went into why.
