>>3070621Rei is mysterious at first though. But then it really goes downhill. Then you realize she's almost blank. It feels like she's too intelligent for her own good considering how empty she is. Even worse every time she gets "renewed". But a lot of people probably imagine her with more of a personality at first and then they keep going with it.
Anyway, NGE's pretty great for subverting its tropes and whatnot like that. I just finished watching the movie ending. I'm sure I missed a lot of stuff.
I can tell why they say it inspired Nier Automata too. It must have inspired tons of stuff.