Characters
| “ | It's strange that 'Evangelion' has become such a hit—all the characters are so sick! | ” |
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—Hideaki Anno, series director and writer |
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For the series, Anno attempted to create characters that represent different things to different viewers. To some, the characters are historical, religious, or philosophical symbols, while others see themselves in the characters. All of the characters reflect different parts of Anno's own personality.
In the story, the characters of Evangelion struggle with their interpersonal relationships, their personal problems, and traumatic events in their pasts. Anno has described the hero, Shinji Ikari, as a boy who "shrinks from human contact" and has "convinced himself that he is a completely unnecessary person". He has also described both Shinji and Misato Katsuragi as "afraid of being hurt" and "unsuitable—lacking the positive attitude—for what people call heroes of an adventure." Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Soryu, the other major protagonists, are presented with their own flaws and difficulty relating to other people.
The characters' visual designs were done by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. His designs of the three main female leads, Asuka, Rei and Misato, contributed to high sales of merchandise, especially the design of Rei. She became so popular that she earned the name "Premium Girl" from the media, referring to the high sales of books with her on the cover.
Read more about this topic: Neon Genesis Evangelion (anime)
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“The first glance at History convinces us that the actions of men proceed from their needs, their passions, their characters and talents; and impresses us with the belief that such needs, passions and interests are the sole spring of actions.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“His leanings were strictly lyrical, descriptions of nature and emotions came to him with surprising facility, but on the other hand he had a lot of trouble with routine items, such as, for instance, the opening and closing of doors, or shaking hands when there were numerous characters in a room, and one person or two persons saluted many people.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)