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Rei is best girl and it’s not even a hard choice. She’s the backbone of the show’s entire metaphysical and emotional arc, literally tied to the fate of humanity, identity, and what it means to be a person. She doesn’t need to yell every five seconds to be compelling; her quiet, eerie presence actually makes the big moments hit harder. Asuka’s cool and all, great animation, iconic scenes, textbook emotional damage, but she peaks early and spends most of the series spiraling. Rei starts as a blank slate and slowly carves out a self, which is way more interesting than “angry girl with trauma.” If you’re picking Asuka, you’re voting ego; if you’re picking Rei, you’re voting existentialism. Also, despite her weird clone-god origins, Rei gives off major “quietly makes you soup and watches you sleep to make sure you don’t die” energy. She’s emotionally reserved, sure, but when she bonds with someone, she becomes fiercely loyal in a calm, nurturing way. She's canonically associated with maternal imagery, and she takes care of Shinji in subtle but meaningful ways, cleaning his room, checking in after battles, risking everything without needing recognition. Asuka, on the other hand? Asuka would forget your birthday, call you pathetic for catching a cold, then yell at you for not doing the dishes while secretly crying in the bathroom because her emotional defenses collapsed. She might warm up eventually, but it’d be through passive-aggressive jabs and trauma bonding, not exactly “mommy who tucks you in” material. Simple as.

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