Hino Rei - Opinion Piece
| Opinion on Hino Rei Out of the Inner Senshi, Rei is my favorite. This doesn't mean I'm obsessed with her the way I am with Michiru and Mamoru or anything; I just like her better than the other Inner Senshi. In my opinion, she's the prettiest of the Inner Senshi (and no, I'm not saying that looks are everything xp), and she's obviously the one who is the most protective of Usagi and who loves Usagi the most, even if she has some problem showing it. It amazes me that there are people who hate Rei for being unable to always show her love for Usagi and then turn around and worship characters like Ranma and Akane, who are even worse in my opinion. I don't like Ranma and Akane either, but I wasn't trying to condone Rei's attitude - like I said, she isn't one of my big favorites, just my favorite out of the Inner Senshi. Also, if you watch enough episodes, you'll notice that Rei's "bitchiness" toward Usagi is really a normal reaction anyone would have when one of their friends is behaving like a cad, and frankly, Usagi gets worked up over the most asinine things. As an example, in one episode Usagi thinks that Ami and Mamoru are flirting together, and Rei bitches at Usagi, calling her a child for thinking that way. That's right, Usagi rather insultingly suspected her best friend, good ol' prosaic reserved AMI, of doing such a thing, and then people say that Rei is some mean bully just because she has the guts and the sense to reprimand Usagi for acting that way? Please. :p If anything, Rei's alleged "bitchiness" is actually the best evidence we have for Rei loving and caring about Usagi, as it shows that she's the only one who cares enough to chide Usagi into doing better as a person. (One of the reasons I really hate DiC is that they made the English "Raye" much more bitchy and cold than Rei really is... the anime played up the Usagi/Rei conflict already, and DiC made it even worse.) Anyway, to put in a nutshell why Rei's my favorite Inner Senshi, I think she's the most interesting, besides being the most pretty and the most loving/protective of Usagi. Minako interests me too, especially her past as Sailor V and all that, and she's gorgeous in the manga, but she's too shallow a character, or at least too shallow for me to like her better than Rei. As for Ami, she goes through issues that I personally dealt with and got over when I was in grade school and middle school, so she just bores me. ^^;;; Finally, Makoto irritates me, seeing as she's one of those stereotypical, straight-guy-fantasy anime tomboys who act all big and aggressive and self-sufficient on the outside but deep down inside are really just as dependent on guys and male approval for personal happiness as some other girl who might not bother to hide her insecurities behind an aggressive facade. Also, the peasant/pagan side of me likes the spiritual/mystical aspects of Rei's character. She can sense energies, she can divine things from fire readings, she looks darn cool in her priestess robes, and she can banish evil with little scraps of paper. ^^ Basically, she's in touch with a different plane of consciousness, and there's a sort of glamour in that which is another quality that I like about her character. My explanation of this quality is kind of cheesy, I know, but Rei carries it off in a way that isn't. Opinion on Rei's Transformations and Attacks Not surprisingly, Rei's transformation and attack sequences are my favorite, at least out of all the Inner Senshi. "Fire soul" is the most dramatic and well-animated of the Inner Senshi's first season attacks; Jupiter's "supreme thunder" is pretty cool too, but that antenna bugs me (I wonder how many channels Mako gets with that thing O_o), and I like the phallic aspect of "fire soul" better... you know, those two fingers thrust boldly forward and trembling and releasing a ball of fire... :p~ *har har* The sequence for "crescent beam" was way too boring, and as for "shabon spray," gimme a break. ^^;;; "Burning mandala" was also better than "shine aqua illusion," "sparkling wide pressure," and "love me chain," all of which were rather dull. Same with "Mars flame sniper" - it was much better than "Venus love and beauty shock," which was rather boring, and "Mercury aqua rhapsody" and "Jupiter oak evolution," which were too odd. o_o Ami playing a harp and Makoto acting like Super Leafy Ballerina didn't really interest me that much. ^^;;; And yes, Rei's transformation sequences are my favorite as well... which is kind of odd, seeing as I'm a water person, not a fire person. You'd think I'd like Ami's transformations and attacks better than Rei's, but oh well! :p Opinion on Rei's Duds When she's not in Senshi form, I think Rei looks the prettiest in her priestess robes, and I think she has the prettiest school uniform compared to the rest of the Inner Senshi. I prefer her Super Sailor Mars outfit to her Sailor Mars outfit because the Super Sailor Mars outfit is drawn better and is more clean/sleek looking. Additionally, in my opinion the civilian clothes Rei wears are the most classy/stylish out of all the Inner Senshi, who have a tendency to wear rather childish clothes at times. |