"Amani" <amani@atlanticbb.net> wrote in message
news:10cnn0d7bqd090@corp.supernews.com...
> "A. Gerard" <anmcco43@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:218787c5.0406121820.6f5ae3d5@posting.google.com...
> > If Shinji was female instead of a male (in that case he would have
> > been named Rei), would Gendo have still been the neglectful parent?
> > One could say one of Gendo's reasons for alienating Shinji was because
> > he saw the boy as a version of himself (which he probably loathed).
> > However, a Ms. Shinji would look more like Yui, and that might cause
> > Gendo to be more affectionate to his offspring (even thought he would
> > still be manipulative). Gendo did hang around with Rei I a lot after
> > all (sharing with her some unappealing comments about a certain
> > lover/co-worker, with fatal consequences), and it was not entirely
> > because she was useful to his Instrumentality plans.
> > BTW, did anyone in the cast who did not know about Rei's true identity
> > (Misato, Asuka, the schoolkids) ever notice that she shared a strong
> > resemblance to Shinji?
> >
> > A.Gerard
>
> Hrm... Ritsuko's mother noticed Rei's strong resemblence to Yui when she
> first meets her as a child, if I'm not mistaken. Not necessarily Shinji,
> though. They might not have a strong resemblence. Rei, obviously, looks
VERY
> much like Yui, but Shinji is, first, male, which will lessen resemblence
to
> a certain degree (he'll have stronger, more angular features), and he
might
> take after Gendou more than Yui physically.
>
> I think it's certainly a possibility Gendou might have had more affection
> for a daughter for the very reasons you stated. It would have been more of
a
> connection to Yui and less of a connection to himself.
>
> ----------
> Taryn : http://taryn.shirataki.net
>

But can you imagine the trauma if Shinji was a girl and Gendo still rejected
her to that extent? That father/daughter bond is a lot different than the
father son one and the betrayal would have been a lot different in a female
Shinji. In spite of Shinji saying ho much he hated his father, he still
tried to get his respect, his notice. A female Shinji might not become a
wimp like Shinji (bitch - on - wheels? or maybe just reaching a point where
she can walk away and stay away)

Rei was mostly treated as a tool by Gendo anyway. I always felt that the
friendly relationship was still pretty strained, it was Gendo looking for
Yui in Rei, not Gendo looking at Rei. I think Rei's pain was that her
feeling for Gendo were influenced by the Yui portion of her soul and she
knew it wasnt really reciprocated, not directed at her but to someone inside
she couldnt see. Rei became free of that in the end (whether it was due to
Rei II becoming Rei II or the effect of Shinji and Kauro in her, I am not
really sure),