>>3005965>Yes. See Evangelion 2.0 ratings on every anime site. It is pretty commonly praised by plebs for having improved the characters of the original, with a lot of that praise focused on pokapoka-Rei.This doesn't imply or mean that people preferred poka-poka Rei. It means that people liked 2.22, which is an indisputable fact. It was after all, a very interesting and fun movie with lots of potential for continuation, and a movie that generated tons of positive hype. This isn't owed to Rei Ayanami's portrayal alone but also the other characters and the fact that the story started to diverge.
Also see picture related. This is the poll in response to 2.22 - and this is the only time Asuka has ever beaten out Rei in this poll, or any other similar poll. This would indicate, or rather prove, that "PokaRei" wasn't nearly as hip as you'd suggest. Rather, the fact remains that Shikinami is the most preferred version of Asuka, which is why it's that version of Asuka that is now more popular than the original Asuka.
For Rei, the original is still the best. Consider also this:
>>2999629demonstrating that the ORIGINAL Rei Ayanami is still the most popular, as the only character with a reference point in the 90's.
Essentially what you're doing is damage control, as the facts are that Asuka fans hate the original Asuka and fanwank their own headcanon shippy version of the character, ignoring the lessons of the original. You're trying to project the sins of the Asuka fanbase onto the Rei fanbase, which doesn't work out for you because we have the numbers and facts to empirically prove that we don't do this and you do.
