The Joy of Bread « hontou ni

31May/067

The Joy of Bread

Technically it should be "toast" since untoasted pre-sliced factory-made bread won't stand up to a running mouth hold. But as (1) Stripey has been using this term to describe the alternative Evangelion universe in Ep 26 for almost a decade now and (2) I am an old dog and just like the sound of "bread universe" mucho more than "toast universe".

Jason's appreciation of Yuki's silence and Skane's comments have really brought it home to me how Yuki is arguably the truest Rei clone since the original (can I even say that about a hybrid-clone?). While the jury is still out on whether Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu will achieve the kind of long lasting fan adoration that establishes it as the next Evangelion, KyoAni's very deliberate homages to Evangelion - particularly in respect to Yuki - have certainly succeeded in rekindling the old Rei fanboy fire in me. Despite the drastic change in context and different eye colour, I just feel this strong sense of nostaglia welling up inside of me when every time Yuki does something Rei-like.

Stripey and I used to spar over whether Asuka or Rei was the better female character but just like our differences over mee kiah vs mee pok, we've come to live with each other's point of view. After reflecting on Karmaburn's conversion to Asukalism, I still stand by my faith in Rei. There's a strain of criticism against Rei fans that I can't deny exists i.e. liking her because she appears to be a blank slate upon which fanboys can foist our fantasies on her - but I would argue that these fanboys don't have a good understanding of Rei's character; which is also why I find a lot of Rei-based doujin, fanfic and even merchandise very offputting - akin to character rape as opposed to relatively harmless fan wanking, milking or exploitation which still has a semblence of faithfulness to the original character.

However my preference for Rei over Asuka (I do feel that Asuka is a great, fun and interesting character though) is that the latter is rather obvious - from the moment she appeared, I already had an inkling of her fall. For the former, there's a sense of mystery that's vitally important for the overall story. It was quite clear that she was not empty. To me, her silences were heavily pregnant rather than empty - I felt that every utterance from her was significant and had so many layers of meaning underneath, still waters running deep. As episodes explored her backstory and character, I was intrigued by her little flashes of affection for Gendou and Shinji, her telling off Asuka, sacrificing her second life for Shinji, her ultimate betrayal of Gendou all indicated that she was not simply about just being passive and stoic. I thought that the Rei of the bread universe was extremely useful in highlighting how ordinary Evangelion might have been if Rei was like her bread alter ego.

The significance of the bread universe for me is to show how much the Evangelion universe can changes if Rei is tweaked - Andrew Huang's Evanjellydonut is IMHO the best fanfic exploration of that idea. (The Iron Maiden manga is a pretty sweet exploration of the bread universe itself.) Of course, the key character is Shinji but just like how the God of the Haruhiverse is not an island, Asuka and Rei are both important constituents of Shinji's dan with the fate of the world lying in how he reacts to their reactions to him.

In any case, the real rationale of this post was to put up some Rei with Bread screencaps. I still laugh every time I see those sparrows pecking at the toast.

Filed under: melancholy of haruhi suzumiya, neon genesis evangelion Leave a comment

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ixthedamned
May 31st, 2006 - 14:46

I don’t think Yuki is anything like Rei (*controversial!!*), actually…Yuki is just stoic, and saying Yuki is like Rei is like saying Rei is like every other stoic character in existance, e.g. Rei is like Ruri from Nadesico, which is obviously wrong.

I think that Rei has yet to be properly cloned outside of Evangelion

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Stripey
May 31st, 2006 - 17:22

ixthedamned: Personally for me, Nagato Yuki’s pretty much as close a Rei-clone as one gets. It’s not merely the stoicism but this combination of enigmatic aura with that hint of suppressed humanity beneath an emotionless facade that we inituitively associate her with Rei. (Ruri belongs to another class of light-haired, lolicious bishoujos where Primula (Shuffle!) and Anju (Karin) reside.)

I believe Zyl’s ‘clone’ here is not to mean ‘exact copy’ but a close enough derivative which Yuki qualifies; for this viewer at least.

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Skane
May 31st, 2006 - 17:00

Hmm… Rei is not what comes to mind when I want to compare Yuki to another anime character. On the spot, I think of Yakumo from School Rumble. They share many traits, but it is still not a very good comparison.

Yuki is… quiet, but not anti-social.
Yuki is… peaceful, but not weak.
Yuki is… silent, but not passive.
Yuki is… artificial, but not emotionless.
Yuki is… intelligent, but not pretentious.
Yuki is… lonely, but not alone. *sniff*
etc…

Sometimes I wonder what Yuki is like when there are no humans around to see her. I can just about imagine her rolling on the floor laughing after the lonely island arc. For all we know, she might be surpressing her amusement all these times.

Compared to Yuki, Haruhi is a girl on methamphetamines. When we see Haruhi smile, it is normal. When we see Yuki smile, it will truly be a Godsend. And if we get to see Yuki laugh, I think I will have, what Jason calls, a haruhigasm.

Sometimes I wonder whether my taste in anime girls is… too unusual. A lot of the time, the girl I root for the most is not the most popular one. Poor Yuki is barely represented in any character polls. Haruhi, Kyon, and Mikuru just dominates them.

For the record, if anybody is recording, my favourite female in NGE is neither Rei, nor Asuka. I am a Misato fanboy. I still have reflexive grief if I think too much about her… ending. NGE is a very depressing anime to me.

Other girls that were my favourites, but not the majority’s.

Ilya&Caster, from F/SN.
Minagi, from Air (TV)
Tomoko, from Canvas2
Mai, from Kanon
Kisaragi, from Happy Lesson
etc…

Cheers.

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Xellos-_^
May 31st, 2006 - 22:49

I am Rei fan But I prefer both Rei and Asuka together.

NSFW:
http://img436.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11489551008535cg.jpg

You guys are getting a sneak peak at the source for my new sig on Animesuki nextweek

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Zyl
May 31st, 2006 - 23:56

Stripey, thanks bro for explaining!

Xellos-_^, nobody seems to mention it but as Rei and Asuka are 14 year old in the anime, don’t they qualify as loli jailbait? Excellent choice of new sig btw. ~~

Andrew, firstly we’re not worthy! we’re not worthy! Secondly, I think EJD works well as a character study precisely because NGE canon is innately so spoofable. J. Parish’s Evangelion Thumbnail Theatre being another classic in point – I still think ETT for Ep 26 (linked above) is about as insightful an explanation of the infamous mindfuck episode as fan spoofs get. Thirdly, I’ve always just assumed that you’d not be allowed to write fanfic on AD Vision stuff now that you’re working for Geneon.

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Andrew Huang
May 31st, 2006 - 22:57

No, that’s not a joke, I’m actually Andrew Huang.

Why do people take EJD seriously as a character study? I mean…I wrote it as a spoof-fic. Perhaps a little more rigorously than other spoofs/parody fictions, but still, I mean…it’s a spoof. ‘_’;

That said, I am flattered that people still read it and like it. n.n; Whether or not I’ll ever be able to continue it, though, erm…don’t hold your breath.

Man, now I feel guilty.

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Haesslich
June 1st, 2006 - 03:31

I wonder if the reference Kyon makes to Yuki having lived/spent most of her time in an empty apartment is a deliberate homage to Rei’s living by herself in a practically empty apartment block?

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