>>3236278> Rei is a stronger characterNo. Rei is super fucking flawed. She can barely feel emotion, just goes along with anything anyone tells her to do, she's not "quiet", shes nothingness. She doesn't stay silent because she's shy or anything, she stays quiet because she doesn't have anything to say. No opinions to weigh in, nothing. She's just (literally and figuratively) a two dimensional character. It's not "Rei Vs. Asuka". Her character development is just vaguely appreciating the protagonist. She's like a caricature of the "shy" anime trophy waifu trope, so grossly exaggerated.
It's tempting because- like instrumentality, choosing her just means an existence where everything is A-OK and everyone appreciates you and no one says bad things and bad things never happen. But this isn't a real life. This isn't a life a person could possibly have. It's artificial, it's created. You have to reject it because it's hard, not because it's easy.
And that's what Asuka represents. She represents confronting your problems and actually tackling them. She represents living in the real world instead of some fantasy world. She's not going to tell you comfortable lies, she's going to tell you the harsh truth so you can fix yourself.
You can still like Rei for the "flavor" she adds in NGE as a foil to Asuka. You can even like her characterization more than Asuka, it doesn't matter. You're not supposed to ultimately fall in love with her like shes the "perfect girl" like so much of the NGE audience has done. Nothing insulting about it.
