Rei Ayanami
"Evangelion" won the Animation Kobe award in 1996, and 1997. The series was awarded the Nihon SF Taisho Award and the Excellence Award Japan Media Arts Festival in 1997. The film ranked #6 on "Wizard's Anime" Magazine on their "Top 50 Anime released in North America". In the August 1996 issue of "Animage", "Evangelion" characters placed high in the rankings of best characters with Rei ranked first, Asuka third, Kaworu fourth and Shinji sixth. Rei Ayanami won in the Female Character category in 1995 and 1996 and Shinji Ikari won the Male Character category in 1996 and 1997. In 2010, "Newtype" magazine recognized Rei Ayanami as the most popular character of the 1990s in the female category, and Shinji Ikari in the male category. "TV Asahi" recognized the "suicide of Ayanami Rei" as the ninth most touching anime scene ever. "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" won the Animage award in the Best Song category in 1996, and TV Asahi recognized it as the 18th best anime song since 1990.