>>2167942Because the original may not always be the best. Rei is a distillation of Yui's essence, and she certainly surpasses the original in some ways. Consider this analogy: Consider Malcort's tuneful chanson "Malheur me bat", itself a fine composition. Yet Josquin's imitation mass based on it develops its materials further and brings it to the realm of the sublime. This is especially true in the final agnus dei, where Josquin weaves two close canons at the unison around the scaffolding of the superius and tenor of the original chanson. Rei is similar in this sense, she certainly resembles Yui a great deal, just as Josquin takes two voices from the Malcort unchanged, yet she holds her own unique charm, which is infused and inseperable from Yui's essence. I think a parallel can be drawn here, specifically during the parts of the music when the canonic voices fall silent, leaving only the two voices from the chanson, and you marvel at how delicate and fragile this melodic backbone really is. The same can be said for those periods when Rei's maternal side is portrayed, the vigils by Shinji's bed, the vows to protect him, even the way she dries a mop. There is this same sense of delicacy and fragility which is evoked, when her psyche is exposed momentarily under the cold and confident exterior and remarkable courage.
Here's the movement in the Josquin mass I mentioned:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkr7Twt3wR8&t=6m34s 