So, us Rei fans said our goodbyes years ago.
http://osito.jp/dojin/pubs/c83c.htmlhttp://osito.jp/dojin/pubs/b14d.htmlPerhaps not to Rei, but to the Eva franchise.
We have seen what it had become. We also know, through careful study of the Studio, the owners and the creative team, exactly why it has become like this.
Even though you're disappointed, we're still not even close to being in the same boat. We're in quite different boats, actually. We had an appreciation for an element of a fantastic story that was concrete, plentiful and a solid part of the original - through Rei's character and all her merits, achievements, developments, interactions and impact on the story, plot and narrative.
However, that was 25 years ago.
What you have been worshiping for the past 25 years, was never real, but sold to you through external channels, promises and hints, as if it were. We also understand the nature of this. I believe back then, some of us might even have warned you. Your element of worship doesn't materialize in the end because it was inherently immaterial, and if it's any consolation, nothing will change forward.
If it's further consolation, you're in the exact same boat as Asuka fans, the image of a fake heroine in Asuka has been built over two decades just as much as the image of the fake hero Kaworu has been built in the same time. Post-EVA, as a compensation for your benefit, for something that was never there in the original.
I hope that you will join us in accepting the true nature of Evangelion, in particular post-EoE Evangelion, where Anno earned his freedom and abused it by well, acting similar to Kaworu in Rebuild by continuously resetting Evangelion and changing it to suit his own selfish needs. It's not the exact same thing, but you understand what I mean. Anno wasn't alone in this, Tsurumaki is cut from the same cloth as well.
The best possible contribution to the Evangelion audience is the acceptance of that and what it did to downgrade Rei.
