Rei Ayanami : Neon Genesis Evangelion

Rei Ayanami is the First Child and pilot of Unit 00. She is socially withdrawn and rarely interacts with anyone, except for Commander Ikari, to whom she initially displays some loyalty but with whom she has a generally distant relationship. She lives by herself in a drab, dingy, under-furnished apartment in Tokyo-3, a clutter of books being her only apparent luxury items (assuming they are not, in fact, schoolbooks). Toward the end of the series, Shinji comments that her apartment is very similar to the place where Ritsuko Akagi says she was born.

Inspiration

I first saw this illustration in a EVA Art Book. I fell in love with it and decided it would be a great way to do a Rei costume, that was not the same as everyone else.

Creation

Wig – Store-bought. Being redone soon.
Fan – Hand-drawn and watercolored design. I handmade the entire fan from watercolor paper and bamboo skewers.
Kimono/Obi – I found a very similar fabric to the illustration and created the kimono from a standard Folkwear pattern. I also made a cream colored under-kimono as a slip. The obi is a single color brocade, lined with interfacing.

Reference

Character courtesy of Gainax

Gallery

Animazement 2001 Convention photos courtesy of Kevin Lillard of Fansview.com