>>2176616Anno never said he hated Rei, like you said, he said she "comes from the deepest, most core part" of himself. Hell she's even vegetarian like him(and Nadia) and Anno has said he doesn't even consider meat as a food. He has a similar disinterest in Shinji, like with Rei he forgets about Shinji too. But both characters are very close to him, probably even uncomfortably close. Rei's huge popularity overshadowing much everything else must have been unexpected considering those things. Of course, not implying he's the sole person who created her and the other characters.
