text: The NSA Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program which seeks to stockpile records on all calls made in the U.S. is collecting less than 30 percent of all Americans' call records because of an inability to keep pace with the explosion in cellphone use, according to "The Washington Post". The controversial program permits the NSA after a warrant granted by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to record numbers, length and location of every call from the participating carriers.


title: Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)

text: "The Intercept" reported that the U.S. government is using primarily NSA surveillance to target people for drone strikes overseas. In its report "The Intercept" author detail the flawed methods which are used to locate targets for lethal drone strikes, resulting in the deaths of innocent people. According to the Washington Post NSA analysts and collectors i.e. NSA personnel which controls electronic surveillance equipment use the NSA's sophisticated surveillance capabilities to track individual targets geographically and in real time, while drones and tactical units aimed their weaponry against those targets to take them out.


text: An unnamed US law firm, reported to be Mayer Brown, was targeted by Australia's ASD. According to Snowden's documents, the ASD had offered to hand over these intercepted communications to the NSA. This allowed government authorities to be "able to continue to cover the talks, providing highly useful intelligence for interested US customers".


text: NSA and GCHQ documents revealed that the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks and other activist groups were targeted for government surveillance and criminal prosecution. In particular, the IP addresses of visitors to WikiLeaks were collected in real time, and the US government urged its allies to file criminal charges against the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, due to his organization's publication of the Afghanistan war logs. The WikiLeaks organization was designated as a "malicious foreign actor".


text: Quoting an unnamed NSA official in Germany, "Bild am Sonntag" reported that whilst President Obama's order to stop spying on Merkel was being obeyed, the focus had shifted to bugging other leading government and business figures including Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, a close confidant of Merkel. Caitlin Hayden, a security adviser to President Obama, was quoted in the newspaper report as saying, "The US has made clear it gathers intelligence in exactly the same way as any other states."


text: "The Intercept" reveals that government agencies are infiltrating online communities and engaging in "false flag operations" to discredit targets among them people who have nothing to do with terrorism or national security threats. The two main tactics that are currently used are the injection of all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and the use of social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable.


text: The Guardian reported that Britain's surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing. The surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats (one image every five minutes) in bulk and saved them to agency databases. The agency discovered "that a surprising number of people use webcam conversations to show intimate parts of their body to the other person", estimating that between 3% and 11% of the Yahoo webcam imagery harvested by GCHQ contains "undesirable nudity".


text: The NSA has built an infrastructure which enables it to covertly hack into computers on a mass scale by using automated systems that reduce the level of human oversight in the process. The NSA relies on an automated system codenamed TURBINE which in essence enables the automated management and control of a large network of implants (a form of remotely transmitted malware on selected individual computer devices or in bulk on tens of thousands of devices). As quoted by "The Intercept", TURBINE is designed to "allow the current implant network to scale to large size (millions of implants) by creating a system that does automated control implants by groups instead of individually." The NSA has shared many of its files on the use of implants with its counterparts in the so-called Five Eyes surveillance alliance – the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.


text: The TURBINE implants are linked to, and relies upon, a large network of clandestine surveillance "sensors" that the NSA has installed at locations across the world, including the agency's headquarters in Maryland and eavesdropping bases used by the agency in Misawa, Japan and Menwith Hill, England. Codenamed as TURMOIL, the sensors operate as a sort of high-tech surveillance dragnet, monitoring packets of data as they are sent across the Internet. When TURBINE implants exfiltrate data from infected computer systems, the TURMOIL sensors automatically identify the data and return it to the NSA for analysis. And when targets are communicating, the TURMOIL system can be used to send alerts or "tips" to TURBINE, enabling the initiation of a malware attack. To identify surveillance targets, the NSA uses a series of data "selectors" as they flow across Internet cables. These selectors can include email addresses, IP addresses, or the unique "cookies" containing a username or other identifying information that are sent to a user's computer by websites such as Google, Facebook, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Twitter, unique Google advertising cookies that track browsing habits, unique encryption key fingerprints that can be traced to a specific user, and computer IDs that are sent across the Internet when a Windows computer crashes or updates.


text: The CIA was accused by U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein of spying on a stand-alone computer network established for the committee in its investigation of allegations of CIA abuse in a George W. Bush-era detention and interrogation program.


text: A voice interception program codenamed MYSTIC began in 2009. Along with RETRO, short for "retrospective retrieval" (RETRO is voice audio recording buffer that allows retrieval of captured content up to 30 days into the past), the MYSTIC program is capable of recording "100 percent" of a foreign country's telephone calls, enabling the NSA to rewind and review conversations up to 30 days and the relating metadata. With the capability to store up to 30 days of recorded conversations MYSTIC enables the NSA to pull an instant history of the person's movements, associates and plans.


text: On March 21, "Le Monde" published slides from an internal presentation of the Communications Security Establishment Canada, which attributed a piece of malicious software to French intelligence. The CSEC presentation concluded that the list of malware victims matched French intelligence priorities and found French cultural reference in the malware's code, including the name Babar, a popular French children's character, and the developer name "Titi".


text: The French telecommunications corporation Orange S.A. shares its call data with the French intelligence agency DGSE, which hands over the intercepted data to GCHQ.


text: The NSA has spied on the Chinese technology company Huawei. Huawei is a leading manufacturer of smartphones, tablets, mobile phone infrastructure, and WLAN routers and installs fiber optic cable. According to "Der Spiegel" this "kind of technology […] is decisive in the NSA's battle for data supremacy." The NSA, in an operation named "Shotgiant", was able to access Huawei's email archive and the source code for Huawei's communications products. The US government has had longstanding concerns that Huawei may not be independent of the People's Liberation Army and that the Chinese government might use equipment manufactured by Huawei to conduct cyberespionage or cyberwarfare. The goals of the NSA operation were to assess the relationship between Huawei and the PLA, to learn more the Chinese government's plans and to use information from Huawei to spy on Huawei's customers, including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya, and Cuba. Former Chinese President Hu Jintao, the Chinese Trade Ministry, banks, as well as telecommunications companies were also targeted by the NSA.


text: "The Intercept" published a document of an NSA employee discussing how to build a database of IP addresses, webmail, and Facebook accounts associated with system administrators so that the NSA can gain access to the networks and systems they administer.


text: At the end of March 2014, "Der Spiegel" and "The Intercept" published, based on a series of classified files from the archive provided to reporters by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, articles related to espionage efforts by GCHQ and NSA in Germany. The British GCHQ targeted three German internet firms for information about Internet traffic passing through internet exchange points, important customers of the German internet providers, their technology suppliers as well as future technical trends in their business sector and company employees. The NSA was granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court the authority for blanket surveillance of Germany, its people and institutions, regardless whether those affected are suspected of having committed an offense or not, without an individualized court order specifying on March 7, 2013. In addition Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel was listed in a surveillance search machine and database named Nymrod along with 121 others foreign leaders. As "The Intercept" wrote: "The NSA uses the Nymrod system to 'find information relating to targets that would otherwise be tough to track down,' according to internal NSA documents. Nymrod sifts through secret reports based on intercepted communications as well as full transcripts of faxes, phone calls, and communications collected from computer systems. More than 300 'cites' for Merkel are listed as available in intelligence reports and transcripts for NSA operatives to read."


text: Towards the end of April, Edward Snowden said that the United States surveillance agencies spy on Americans more than anyone else in the world, contrary to anything that has been said by the government up until this point.


text: An article published by Ars Technica shows NSA's Tailored Access Operations (TAO) employees intercepting a Cisco router.


text: "The Intercept" and WikiLeaks revealed information about which countries were having their communications collected as part of the MYSTIC surveillance program. On May 19, "The Intercept" reported that the NSA is recording and archiving nearly every cell phone conversation in the Bahamas with a system called SOMALGET, a subprogram of MYSTIC. The mass surveillance has been occurring without the Bahamian government's permission. Aside from the Bahamas, "The Intercept" reported NSA interception of cell phone metadata in Kenya, the Philippines, Mexico and a fifth country it did not name due to "credible concerns that doing so could lead to increased violence." WikiLeaks released a statement on May 23 claiming that Afghanistan was the unnamed nation.


text: In a statement responding to the revelations, the NSA said "the implication that NSA's foreign intelligence collection is arbitrary and unconstrained is false."


text: Through its global surveillance operations the NSA exploits the flood of images included in emails, text messages, social media, videoconferences and other communications to harvest millions of images. These images are then used by the NSA in sophisticated facial recognition programs to track suspected terrorists and other intelligence targets.


text: Vodafone revealed that there were secret wires that allowed government agencies direct access to their networks. This access does not require warrants and the direct access wire is often equipment in a locked room. In six countries where Vodafone operates, the law requires telecommunication companies to install such access or allows governments to do so. Vodafone did not name these countries in case some governments retaliated by imprisoning their staff. Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty said "For governments to access phone calls at the flick of a switch is unprecedented and terrifying. Snowden revealed the internet was already treated as fair game. Bluster that all is well is wearing pretty thin – our analogue laws need a digital overhaul." Vodafone published its first Law Enforcement Disclosure Report on June 6, 2014. Vodafone group privacy officer Stephen Deadman said "These pipes exist, the direct access model exists. We are making a call to end direct access as a means of government agencies obtaining people's communication data. Without an official warrant, there is no external visibility. If we receive a demand we can push back against the agency. The fact that a government has to issue a piece of paper is an important constraint on how powers are used." Gus Hosein, director of Privacy International said "I never thought the telcos would be so complicit. It's a brave step by Vodafone and hopefully the other telcos will become more brave with disclosure, but what we need is for them to be braver about fighting back against the illegal requests and the laws themselves."


text: Above-top-secret documentation of a covert surveillance program named Overseas Processing Centre 1 (OPC-1) (codenamed "CIRCUIT") by GCHQ was published by "The Register". Based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden, GCHQ taps into undersea fiber optic cables via secret spy bases near the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen. BT and Vodafone are implicated.


text: The Danish newspaper "Dagbladet Information" and "The Intercept" revealed on June 19, 2014, the NSA mass surveillance program codenamed RAMPART-A. Under RAMPART-A, 'third party' countries tap into fiber optic cables carrying the majority of the world's electronic communications and are secretly allowing the NSA to install surveillance equipment on these fiber-optic cables. The foreign partners of the NSA turn massive amounts of data like the content of phone calls, faxes, e-mails, internet chats, data from virtual private networks, and calls made using Voice over IP software like Skype over to the NSA. In return these partners receive access to the NSA's sophisticated surveillance equipment so that they too can spy on the mass of data that flows in and out of their territory. Among the partners participating in the NSA mass surveillance program are Denmark and Germany.


text: During the week of July 4, a 31-year-old male employee of Germany's intelligence service BND was arrested on suspicion of spying for the United States. The employee is suspected of spying on the German Parliamentary Committee investigating the NSA spying scandal.


text: Former NSA official and whistleblower William Binney spoke at a Centre for Investigative Journalism conference in London. According to Binney, "at least 80% of all audio calls, not just metadata, are recorded and stored in the US. The NSA lies about what it stores." He also stated that the majority of fiber optic cables run through the U.S., which "is no accident and allows the US to view all communication coming in."


text: "The Washington Post" released a review of a cache provided by Snowden containing roughly 160,000 text messages and e-mails intercepted by the NSA between 2009 and 2012. The newspaper concluded that nine out of ten account holders whose conversations were recorded by the agency "were not the intended surveillance targets but were caught in a net the agency had cast for somebody else." In its analysis, "The Post" also noted that many of the account holders were Americans.


text: On July 9, a soldier working within Germany's Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) fell under suspicion of spying for the United States. As a result of the July 4 case and this one, the German government expelled the CIA station chief in Germany on July 17.


text: On July 18, former State Department official John Tye released an editorial in "The Washington Post", highlighting concerns over data collection under Executive Order 12333. Tye's concerns are rooted in classified material he had access to through the State Department, though he has not publicly released any classified materials.


text: "The Intercept" reported that the NSA is "secretly providing data to nearly two dozen U.S. government agencies with a 'Google-like' search engine" called ICREACH. The database, "The Intercept" reported, is accessible to domestic law enforcement agencies including the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration and was built to contain more than 850 billion metadata records about phone calls, emails, cellphone locations, and text messages.


text: Based on documents obtained from Snowden, "The Intercept" reported that the NSA and GCHQ had broken into the internal computer network of Gemalto and stolen the encryption keys that are used in SIM cards no later than 2010. , the company is the world's largest manufacturer of SIM cards, making about two billion cards a year. With the keys, the intelligence agencies could eavesdrop on cell phones without the knowledge of mobile phone operators or foreign governments.


text: "The New Zealand Herald", in partnership with "The Intercept", revealed that the New Zealand government used XKeyscore to spy on candidates for the position of World Trade Organization director general and also members of the Solomon Islands government.


text: In January 2015, the DEA revealed that it had been collecting metadata records for all telephone calls made by Americans to 116 countries linked to drug trafficking. The DEA's program was separate from the telephony metadata programs run by the NSA. In April, "USA Today" reported that the DEA's data collection program began in 1992 and included all telephone calls between the United States and from Canada and Mexico. Current and former DEA officials described the program as the precursor of the NSA's similar programs. The DEA said its program was suspended in September 2013, after a review of the NSA's programs and that it was "ultimately terminated."


text: Snowden provided journalists at "The Intercept" with GCHQ documents regarding another secret program "Karma Police", calling itself "the world's biggest" data mining operation, formed to create profiles on every visible Internet user's browsing habits. By 2009 it had stored over 1.1 trillion web browsing sessions, and by 2012 was recording 50 billion sessions per day.


text: In March 2017, WikiLeaks published more than 8,000 documents on the CIA. The confidential documents, codenamed Vault 7, dated from 2013 to 2016, included details on the CIA's hacking capabilities, such as the ability to compromise cars, smart TVs, web browsers (including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Opera), and the operating systems of most smartphones (including Apple's iOS and Google's Android), as well as other operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. WikiLeaks did not name the source, but said that the files had "circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive."


text: The disclosure provided impetus for the creation of social movements against mass surveillance, such as Restore the Fourth, and actions like Stop Watching Us and The Day We Fight Back. On the legal front, the Electronic Frontier Foundation joined a coalition of diverse groups filing suit against the NSA. Several human rights organizations have urged the Obama administration not to prosecute, but protect, "whistleblower Snowden": Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Transparency International, and the Index on Censorship, among others. On the economic front, several consumer surveys registered a drop in online shopping and banking activity as a result of the Snowden revelations.


text: Citizens seem to be quite upset if an intelligence agency had a “dick pic program”, collecting pictures of private parts, yet “the general public has still failed to adopt privacy-enhancing tools en masse.”


text: Domestically, President Barack Obama claimed that there is "no spying on Americans", and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney asserted that the surveillance programs revealed by Snowden have been authorized by Congress.


text: On the international front, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stated that "we cannot target even foreign persons overseas without a valid foreign intelligence purpose."


text: Prime Minister David Cameron warned journalists that "if they don't demonstrate some social responsibility it will be very difficult for government to stand back and not to act." Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg emphasized that the media should "absolutely defend the principle of secrecy for the intelligence agencies".


text: Foreign Secretary William Hague claimed that "we take great care to balance individual privacy with our duty to safeguard the public and UK national security." Hague defended the Five Eyes alliance and reiterated that the British-U.S. intelligence relationship must not be endangered because it "saved many lives".


text: Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated that "every Australian governmental agency, every Australian official at home and abroad, operates in accordance with the law". Abbott criticized the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for being unpatriotic due to its reporting on the documents provided by Snowden, whom Abbott described as a "traitor". Foreign Minister Julie Bishop also denounced Snowden as a traitor and accused him of "unprecedented" treachery. Bishop defended the Five Eyes alliance and reiterated that the Australian–U.S. intelligence relationship must not be endangered because it "saves lives".


text: In July 2013, Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the surveillance practices of the NSA, and described the United States as "our truest ally throughout the decades". After the NSA's surveillance on Merkel was revealed, however, the Chancellor compared the NSA with the Stasi. According to "The Guardian", Berlin is using the controversy over NSA spying as leverage to enter the exclusive Five Eyes alliance.


text: Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich stated that "the Americans take our data privacy concerns seriously." Testifying before the German Parliament, Friedrich defended the NSA's surveillance, and cited five terrorist plots on German soil that were prevented because of the NSA. However, in April 2014, another German interior minister criticized the United States for failing to provide sufficient assurances to Germany that it had reined in its spying tactics. Thomas de Maiziere, a close ally of Merkel, told "Der Spiegel": "U.S. intelligence methods may be justified to a large extent by security needs, but the tactics are excessive and over-the-top."


text: Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt, defended the FRA and described its surveillance practices as a "national necessity". Minister for Defence Karin Enström said that Sweden's intelligence exchange with other countries is "critical for our security" and that "intelligence operations occur within a framework with clear legislation, strict controls and under parliamentary oversight."


text: Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk apologized for incorrectly claiming that the NSA had collected 1.8 million records of metadata in the Netherlands. Plasterk acknowledged that it was in fact Dutch intelligence services who collected the records and transferred them to the NSA.


text: The Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt has praised the American intelligence agencies, claiming they have prevented terrorist attacks in Denmark, and expressed her personal belief that the Danish people "should be grateful" for the Americans' surveillance. She has later claimed that the Danish authorities have no basis for assuming that American intelligence agencies have performed illegal spying activities towards Denmark or Danish interests.


text: In July 2013, the German government announced an extensive review of Germany's intelligence services.


text: In October 2013, the British government announced an extensive review of British intelligence services.


text: In December 2013, the Canadian government announced an extensive review of Canada's intelligence services.


text: In January 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama said that "the sensational way in which these disclosures have come out has often shed more heat than light" and critics such as Sean Wilentz claimed that "the NSA has acted far more responsibly than the claims made by the leakers and publicized by the press." In Wilentz' view "The leakers have gone far beyond justifiably blowing the whistle on abusive programs. In addition to their alarmism about [U.S.] domestic surveillance, many of the Snowden documents released thus far have had nothing whatsoever to do with domestic surveillance." Edward Lucas, former Moscow bureau chief for "The Economist", agreed, asserting that "Snowden's revelations neatly and suspiciously fits the interests of one country: Russia" and citing Masha Gessen's statement that "The Russian propaganda machine has not gotten this much mileage out of a US citizen since Angela Davis's murder trial in 1971."


text: Bob Cesca objected to "The New York Times" failing to redact the name of an NSA employee and the specific location where an al Qaeda group was being targeted in a series of slides the paper made publicly available.


text: Russian journalist Andrei Soldatov argued that Snowden's revelations had had negative consequences for internet freedom in Russia, as Russian authorities increased their own surveillance and regulation on the pretext of protecting the privacy of Russian users. Snowden's name was invoked by Russian legislators who supported measures forcing platforms such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Gmail and YouTube to locate their servers on Russian soil or install SORM black boxes on their servers so that Russian authorities could control them. Soldatov also contended that as a result of the disclosures, international support for having national governments take over the powers of the organizations involved in coordinating the Internet's global architectures had grown, which could lead to a Balkanization of the Internet that restricted free access to information. The Montevideo Statement on the Future of Internet Cooperation issued in October 2013, by ICANN and other organizations warned against "Internet fragmentation at a national level" and expressed "strong concern over the undermining of the trust and confidence of Internet users globally due to recent revelations".


text: In late 2014, Freedom House said "[s]ome states are using the revelations of widespread surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) as an excuse to augment their own monitoring capabilities, frequently with little or no oversight, and often aimed at the political opposition and human rights activists."


title: Maria de Medeiros

text: Maria Esteves de Medeiros Victorino de Almeida, DamSE (born 19 August 1965), known professionally as Maria de Medeiros (), is a Portuguese actress, director, and singer who has been involved in both European and American film productions.


title: Maria de Medeiros

text: Maria de Medeiros was born in Lisbon, Portugal, the daughter of musician and composer António Victorino de Almeida. She played her first part on screen at the age of 15. At 18, she moved to France to pursue her acting studies and was a student at the CNSAD.


title: Maria de Medeiros

text: Medeiros speaks French fluently and has acted extensively on stage and on screen in French productions. She also acts in German, Spanish and Italian productions. Medeiros is the first Portuguese woman to be designated a UNESCO Artist for Peace.


title: Maria de Medeiros

text: Among Medeiros' most memorable film appearances are three early 1990s roles. Her considerable resemblance to Anaïs Nin landed her the primary role in "Henry & June" (1990), in which she played the author. In 1990, she played the role of Maria in Ken McMullen's film about the rise of the Paris Commune, "1871". In 1994, Medeiros appeared in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" playing Fabienne, the girlfriend of Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis).


title: Maria de Medeiros

text: In 2000, Medeiros directed the film "April Captains" (in which she also had a small role) about the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.


title: Maria de Medeiros

text: In 2003, Medeiros appeared as a hairdresser in the movie "My Life Without Me" starring Sarah Polley. She has starred in the Canadian movie "The Saddest Music in the World" (2004) directed by Guy Maddin and co-starring Isabella Rossellini and Mark McKinney.


title: Maria de Medeiros

text: In 2007, Medeiros released the album "A Little More Blue" on which she performs songs by Brazilian musicians, including Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Ivan Lins, and Dolores Duran. She sings in Portuguese, French ("Joana Francesa" by Buarque), and English ("A Little More Blue" by Veloso).


title: Kanban board

text: A kanban board is one of the tools that can be used to implement kanban to manage work at a personal or organizational level.


title: Kanban board

text: Kanban boards visually depict work at various stages of a process using cards to represent work items and columns to represent each stage of the process. Cards are moved from left to right to show progress and to help coordinate teams performing the work. A kanban board may be divided into horizontal "swimlanes" representing different kinds of work or different teams performing the work.


title: Kanban board

text: Simple boards have columns for "waiting", "in progress", and "completed" or "to-do", "doing", and "done". Complex kanban boards can be created that subdivide "in progress" work into multiple columns to visualise the flow of work across a whole value stream map.


title: Kanban board

text: Kanban can be used to organize many areas of an organization and can be designed accordingly. The simplest kanban board consists of three columns: "to-do", "doing" and "done", though some additional detail such as WiP limits are needed to fully support the Kanban Method. Business functions that use kanban boards include:


title: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

text: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy is a tokusatsu television series and the seventh season of the "Power Rangers" franchise, based on the 22nd Super Sentai series "Seijuu Sentai Gingaman". The series was the first to follow the Sentai tradition of a new cast with each new series.


title: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

text: Kendrix Morgan (Valerie Vernon), the first Pink Galaxy Ranger for this series, was killed off two-thirds through the season, marking the first time that a Ranger was killed off in the series. Kendrix was written out of the show as Vernon had left for a while to be cured for leukemia. Her treatment was successful and she returned for the season finale.


title: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

text: Set after the events of "In Space", four young adults (Corbett siblings Leo and Mike, Kai Chen and Kendrix Morgan) are leaving for the space colony Terra Venture seeking a new world like Earth. They later meet mechanic Damon Henderson, and on the Moon, a tribesgirl named Maya who leads them to five mystical Quasar Saber swords on her home planet of Mirinoi. After pulling the Sabers out of a stone, Mike falls into a crevice, but not before passing his Sword onto Leo.


title: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

text: With the Quasar Sabers, they morph into Galaxy Power Rangers and battle space villains from two different parts of the galaxy who include Scorpius, Trakeena, Deviot and Captain Mutiny. Along the way, they discover Galactabeasts (which eventually gain the power to morph whenever needed into Galactazords) and ally with the mysterious galactic warrior Magna Defender. Though he later dies, he manages to reveal that his host body is Mike and passes the Magna Defender powers to him.


title: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

text: When Deviot revives the evil Psycho Rangers, the Rangers of "Power Rangers in Space" show up to aid the Galaxy Rangers in destroying them. During this saga, Kendrix Morgan, the Pink Ranger, sacrifices herself to protect the Pink Space Ranger and Terra Venture from Psycho Pink. Karone, sister of the Red Space Ranger Andros and former evil princess Astronema, is given the powers of the Pink Galaxy Ranger from Kendrix (who appears as a spirit), and joins the Rangers in the battle to protect Terra Venture.


title: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

text: After this, Deviot returns to Trakeena, but, by this time, she has learned of his treachery and tries to destroy him. She chases him through the ship and into the cocoon that Scorpius made, fusing them together and driving Trakeena insane. Using her army armed with bombs, she cripples Terra Venture and destroys the Stratoforce and Centaurus Megazords. This forces the colony's people to evacuate to a nearby planet. Trakeena gives chase but the Rangers destroy her ship by self-destructing the Astro Megaship, but the explosion leaves Leo stranded on the moon. Trakeena, who survives the blast also, albeit scarred and injured, finally reaches her breaking point and uses the cocoon to transform into an insectoid creature to enter Terra Venture's wreck and use her power to set it on a crash course to the planet below to destroy it and the people. Leo enters and soon followed by the other Rangers try to stop her, but are slowly outmatched by Trakeena's new power. She is only defeated after Leo, using his Battlizer, blasts her at point-blank range nearly destroying himself in the process. By this time the colony is nearly crashed but the Galaxy Megazord diverts its course and lands it on a large clearing in an explosion, the colonists, having feared the worse for the Rangers, are relieved and overjoyed when they come out of the explosion on the Galactabeasts. After this, the Zords reveal to the Rangers they had landed on Mirinoi and return the swords to the stone altar. This restores its petrified inhabits and, to the joy of the Rangers, restores Kendrix to life as well. After this the colonists settle on Mirinoi as the series ends.


title: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

text: The Space Rangers from "In Space" make a guest appearance in "Lost Galaxy"<nowiki>'</nowiki> 30th and 31st episodes ("To the Tenth Power" and "The Power of Pink") for a team-up story in each episode:


title: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

text: The Psycho Rangers, the evil counterparts of the Space Rangers, are brought back by the villains of this series in episode 30 to assist them in a scheme to deal with the good Rangers - over the course of episodes 30 and 31, the Rangers are destroyed by the combined powers of the Space and Galaxy Rangers with Psycho Pink, the only Psycho Ranger to survive destruction after episode 30 with a second return (meaning she is the only member of her team to make more guest appearances in "Lost Galaxy"), being destroyed again and fully in episode 31, thus bringing an end to the guest appearance of the Psycho Rangers:


title: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

text: In 2012, Shout Factory announced that it had reached an exclusive distribution deal with Saban for shows such as "Power Rangers" and "Big Bad Beetleborgs". "Lost Galaxy" was released on DVD in August as part of a Time-Life exclusive boxed set containing seasons 1–7 of the franchise's Zordon (from "Mighty Morphin" until "In Space") saga. The show later became available independently of the boxed set on March 10, 2015.


title: Far-sightedness

text: Far-sightedness, also known as long-sightedness, hypermetropia, or hyperopia, is a condition of the eye where distant objects are seen clearly but near objects appear blurred. This blurred effect is due to incoming light being focused behind, instead of on, the retina wall due to insufficient accommodation by the lens. Minor hypermetropia in young patients is usually corrected by their accommodation, without any defects in vision. But, due to this accommodative effort for distant vision, people may complain of eye strain during prolonged reading. Some hypermetropes can see clear at distance, but near vision may be blurred due to insufficient accommodation. For this reason, this defect is referred as far-sightedness. If the hypermetropia is high, there will be defective vision for both distance and near. People may also experience accommodative dysfunction, binocular dysfunction, amblyopia, and strabismus. Newborns are almost invariably hypermetropic, but it gradually decreases as the newborn gets older.


title: Far-sightedness

text: There are many causes for this condition. It may occur when the axial length of eyeball is too short or if the lens or cornea is flatter than normal. Changes in refractive index of lens, alterations in position of the lens or absence of lens are the other main causes. Risk factors include a family history of the condition, diabetes, certain medications, and tumors around the eye. It is a type of refractive error. Diagnosis is based on an eye exam.


title: Far-sightedness

text: Management can occur with eyeglasses, contact lenses, or refractive corneal surgeries. Glasses are easiest while contact lenses can provide a wider field of vision. Surgery works by changing the shape of the cornea. Far-sightedness primarily affects young children, with rates of 8% at 6 years and 1% at 15 years. It then becomes more common again after the age of 40, known as presbyopia, affecting about half of people. Best treatment option to correct hypermetropia due to aphakia is IOL implantation.


title: Far-sightedness

text: In young patients, mild hypermetropia may not produce any symptoms. The signs and symptoms of far-sightedness include blurry vision, frontal or fronto temporal headaches, eye strain, tiredness of eyes etc. The common symptom is eye strain. Difficulty seeing with both eyes (binocular vision) may occur, as well as difficulty with depth perception. The asthenopic symptoms and near blur are usually seen after close work, especially in the evening or night.


title: Far-sightedness

text: Far-sightedness can have rare complications such as strabismus and amblyopia. At a young age, severe far-sightedness can cause the child to have double vision as a result of "over-focusing".


title: Far-sightedness

text: Hypermetropic patients with short axial length are at higher risk of developing primary angle closure glaucoma, so, routine gonioscopy and glaucoma evaluation is recommended for all hypermetropic adults.


title: Far-sightedness

text: Simple hypermetropia, the most common form of hypermetropia, is caused by normal biological variations in the development of eyeball. Aetiologically, causes of hypermetropia can be classified as:


title: Far-sightedness

text: Far-sightedness is often present from birth, but children have a very flexible eye lens, which helps to compensate. In rare instances hyperopia can be due to diabetes, and problems with the blood vessels in the retina.


title: Far-sightedness

text: A diagnosis of far-sightedness is made by utilizing either a retinoscope or an automated refractor-objective refraction; or trial lenses in a trial frame or a phoropter to obtain a subjective examination.


title: Far-sightedness

text: Ancillary tests for abnormal structures and physiology can be made via a slit lamp test, which examines the cornea, conjunctiva, anterior chamber, and iris.


title: Far-sightedness

text: In severe cases of hyperopia from birth, the brain has difficulty in merging the images that each individual eye sees. This is because the images the brain receives from each eye are always blurred. A child with severe hyperopia can never see objects in detail. If the brain never learns to see objects in detail, then there is a high chance of one eye becoming dominant. The result is that the brain will block the impulses of the non-dominant eye. In contrast, the child with myopia can see objects close to the eye in detail and does learn at an early age to see objects in detail.


title: Far-sightedness

text: Hyperopia is typically classified according to clinical appearance, its severity, or how it relates to the eye's accommodative status.


title: Far-sightedness

text: Accommodation has significant role in hyperopia. Considering accommodative status, hyperopia can be classified as:


title: Far-sightedness

text: The simplest form of treatment for far-sightedness is the use of corrective lenses, i.e. eyeglasses or contact lenses. Eyeglasses used to correct far-sightedness have convex lenses.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Hideaki Anno, director of the animated series, conceived her as a representation of his unconscious. He was also influenced by his readings on psychology, in particular on Freudian psychoanalysis, taking inspiration from Freud's theories on the Oedipus complex. Other influences for its creation include earlier works by Gainax staff members, such as "Aoki Uru", and Paul Gallico's "The Snow Goose". Rei is voiced by Megumi Hayashibara in Japanese, and by Amanda Winn-Lee, Brina Palencia and Ryan Bartley in English.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Rei has been well received by critics and in reviews. She has maintained a high ranking in every popularity poll of the series and has also appeared in polls to decide the most popular anime characters in Japan. Reviewers have praised Rei's mysterious aura and her role in the story. Merchandising based on her has also been released, particularly action figures, which became popular. Critics linked her success to a series of moe traits that proved popular with anime fans, influencing the creation of subsequent female anime characters.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: According to the "Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Unofficial Guide" by writers Kazuhisa Fujie and Martin Foster, director Hideaki Anno instructed Yoshiyuki Sadamoto on Rei's character design saying, "Whatever else, she needs to be painted in as a bitterly unhappy young girl with little sense of presence." The band Kinniku Shōjo Tai's theme song "Doko e demo ikeru kitte" and its line "hotai de masshiro na shojo" (lit. "the white girl with bandages") inspired Sadamoto to draw Rei. The same band produced a song named , in which a female monologue is audible, and Sadamoto tried to portray a girl with a similar voice. Ukina, a character from Sadamoto's previous work "Koto", served as Rei's model, giving her "shaggy, bobbed, wolf-like hair". Another source of inspiration was "The Snow Goose", a novella written by Paul Gallico; the story describes a painting portraying the protagonist, a thin and pale girl in an empty room, and the artist tried to create a character similar to her.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Anno required a "gloomy", "cool character with short hair", so Sadamoto designed Rei originally as a brunette with dark eyes; however, it was necessary to distinguish her from the other female protagonist Asuka Langley Soryu, so he designed her with eye and hair colors opposite to Asuka's. He also published a drawing of a dark-haired character named Yui Ichijō among Rei's designs in one of his artbooks, without specifying whether it is an early conception of Yui Ikari or not. While Asuka was conceived as "an idol-like figure" in "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and a symbol of "heterosexual desire", Sadamoto designed Rei as a motherhood symbol, thinking of her as "the Yin opposed to Asuka". Anno also suggested that Rei's eye color be red, a feature he believed would give her more personality and distinguish her design from those of the other characters. Her hair color changed to blue, similarly to the main character from "Aoki Uru", the movie sequel to "The Wings of Honneamise" (1987) which was never made. Sadamoto also gave her black stockings, inspired by a women's handball team he saw playing when he was in middle school. Black allowed him to differentiate her from the characters of the series released in the same period and go against their trend.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Like other "Evangelion" characters, Ayanami's surname comes from a Japanese World War II naval vessel, the . Her first name comes from the character Rei Hino of the anime and manga series "Sailor Moon". This was done to get one of "Sailor Moon"s directors, Kunihiko Ikuhara, to work on "Evangelion". Written in kanji, can mean "zero", "null". The character also means "custom", "routine". According to writer Patrick Drazen, her name can be a pun on her Evangelion 00, while for critic Hiroki Azuma it may have been influenced by a character named Zero, the protagonist of the novel "Ai to gensō no fascism", written by Ryū Murakami. Anno also took inspiration from Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic concept of Oedipus complex for her role. He conceived the Evangelion and Rei as a palliative mother figures for Shinji; Rei was also conceived as emotionally close to Shinji's father, Gendo, creating a multi-layered Oedipus complex. In a discarded draft of the character background, she was thus a more sensual character than her final version; character designer Sadamoto, however, unlike the more frank and explicit Hideaki Anno, decided to give her a much more "enigmatic" and bland eros.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: During "Evangelion"s production and first broadcast, Anno encountered difficulties writing the character, not feeling "particularly interested" or relating to her, but he thought of her as a representation of his unconscious mind, conceiving Rei as "the unconscious Shinji". In the fifth episode ("Rei I"), explicitly dedicated to her character, Rei speaks seven lines and fifty-two words, while in the sixth she has twenty-five lines. Not feeling particularly close to her, the director for a long time forgot to explore Rei's personality, ignoring it or giving it marginal space. In the eighth episode ("Asuka Strikes!"), for example, she does not appear in any scene, while in the seventh ("A Human Work") he remembered her adding a scene with Rei. As with other "Evangelion" characters, he transposed aspects of his life into her character, including the choice to not eat meat and maintain a vegetarian diet. At the beginning of the production he also stated that he did not know what would happen to Rei or to the other characters, "because I don't know where life is taking the staff".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Her history has eventually undergone changes. According to Sadamoto and assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki, she was originally conceived as an alien entity, but staff later went on to make her at least genetically human. They described Rei as a girl who has both the human genes of Yui Ikari and ; Tsurumaki also associated her condition to a Devilman, a hybrid presented in the manga "Devilman" by Go Nagai. Moreover, in the twenty-first episode, the first Rei clone, killed by Naoko Akagi in the final version of the script, would eventually survive after being strangled and having lost consciousness momentarily, awakening in an empty command room without Dr. Akagi, while the death of her second clone was planned by Anno since the beginning. During the production of the fourteenth episode, the director decided to focus on her and "explore her emotion", adding a monologue of Rei. When he was working on the monologue, he wanted to develop her in a "schizophrenic" direction and wondered how to portray a kind of madness. He was loaned a magazine-like book entitled on mental illness that contained a poem by someone who suffered from a mental disorder, and that triggered his imagination. Moreover, during the production, Ikuhara, annoyed by the idealized image and the fetishism that some fans built around the character, proposed to Anno to "betray" fans and show her as a real girl who gets married and "gets pregnant in the last episode", but Anno rejected the suggestion. Furthermore, in the original finale wanted by Anno, the giant Rei added in the film "The End of Evangelion" (1997) was not foreseen, since it was conceived at a later time. Anno himself declared he considered her character "already finished" in the episode six smile scene, since "she and Shinji completely 'communicated' there".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Megumi Hayashibara voiced Rei in all her appearances in the original series, as well as the later films, spin-offs, video games and the new "Rebuild of Evangelion". In 1995, Hayashibara said she was somewhat "surprised" by her role and her laconic character saying, "I have to challenge something new." Hayashibara also attended auditions for Asuka and Misato Katsuragi, but after hearing her performance in an OVA named Anno felt her voice more suited to Rei. She noticed that before "Neon Genesis Evangelion" there were few taciturn and cold characters to deal with, so, in the absence of examples to imitate, she tried to characterize her "as best I could". During the dub sessions, Hideaki Anno instructed and guided her, advising her to read her lines in the flattest tone possible: "When the director explained her character to me, he said, 'It's not that Rei doesn't have any feelings, it's just that she doesn't understand'." According to Hayashibara, since Rei "doesn't know emotion, there's no difference between what she says and feels". At first glance, her "great beauty" comes from "this surface, not without depth, but with the absence of its necessity". She added, "Rei's beauty comes from the truth that she has feelings", and "when I found the warmth below the coldness in her words, I synchronized with Rei for the first time".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Voicing the mahjong game , she stated that she understood the difference between "lack of intonation" and "absence of emotion" in words. She linked the lack of intonation as a sign of "self-confidence"; an insecure or bad faith person, in her opinion, would tend to emphasize words, while Rei is completely honest and only tells the truth. The voice actress also reprised the role for the "Rebuild". While filming for the third film in the saga, "" (2012), she worked on parts that weren't fully animated, so she had to ask the director what was happening in the scenes. Hayashibara stated she had to do "countless takes" for Rei's short lines and find the right nuance the staff wanted. She had to dub her as she was indifferent and be careful in conveying her character's feelings of happiness "without overdoing it".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Regarding the final instalment, "" (2021), a difficult part for her was showing another Rei clone who is slowly growing up; when she tried to be pure she was criticized, and when she tried to be less emotional she was criticized anyway. Anno tried to make the characters younger and with fuller emotions, so it was difficult for the voice actress to get the nuances the director wanted. With Rei's role, Hayashibara's popularity as a voice actor grew, and she became an icon of anime fandom. Shunsuke Nozawa, assistant professor at Hokkaido University, noted how in the 1990s there was an explosion of interest in Japanese voice actors, believing the figure of Hayashibara to be at the center of this change, thanks to the "enormous, societal-level fascination" exerted by Ayanami. Hayashibara thus began to be interviewed about the series and to be regularly invited on television as a celebrity.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Amanda Winn-Lee voices Rei in English in the original series and in the Amazon dubs of the "Rebuild of Evangelion" films. According to Winn-Lee, despite the cold and detached appearance, there is still "a small spark of humanity" in Rei, "clouded by this huge sense of negative self-worth and the realization that she is expendable". She also stated: "She knows she's expendable, but the thing is, she's still human." In the Funimation dub of the "Rebuild of Evangelion" films, her role is entrusted to Brina Palencia, while in the Netflix dub she is voiced by Ryan Bartley.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Rei Ayanami's birth date is never specified in the original series. All data about Rei's past are unknown or erased; her age (14 in 2015) is the only known fact. Officially, Rei is chosen by an organization called the Marduk Institute as the First Child and pilot of Eva Unit-00 to defeat creatures named Angels for the special agency Nerv, under the command of Gendo Ikari. She moves to the first municipal middle school of the new city of Tokyo-3, and Gendo becomes her legal guardian. Through the course of the series, Rei, who is originally completely submissive to the will of Gendo, becomes friends with fellow Eva pilot and classmate Shinji Ikari, changing attitude. She also begins to become more aware of her own identity and desires.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: In the battle with the Angel Armisael, Rei decides to sacrifice herself alongside Eva Unit-00 to save Shinji and destroy the enemy. After her apparent death, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi reveals she was born in Laboratory for Artificial Evolution's third branch, a place located under the lake Ashino and Hakone city. Her body with albino-like traits was created in absolute secrecy from the salvaged remains of Yui Ikari, a brilliant researcher who lost her life in a testing experiment by Evangelion Unit 01. Ritsuko also reveals that in the deepest level of Nerv's headquarters many Rei clones are kept, so that when one Rei dies, she can be replaced. When a clone is activated from a level named Terminal Dogma, although she remains characteristically distinct from all former incarnations, she is endowed with the soul of Lilith, the second Angel. Her memory is eventually saved in an object similar to a spinal column placed in the Central Dogma of the Nerv, the Dummy Plug Plant. In 2010, Gendo brought her first clone (Rei I) to the Gehirn base, the predecessor of Nerv and responsible for the development and construction of the first Evangelion units, introducing her as the daughter an acquaintance had entrusted to him. This first Rei was killed by Dr. Naoko Akagi, colleague and secret lover of Gendō. During her visit to Gehirn, Rei I got lost in the laboratory control room and met Naoko, calling her an "old hag", as if to provoke her. She then revealed that it was Gendo who called Naoko that. Naoko suddenly recognized Yui's facial features in the little girl's face and, in an outburst of violence, she strangled and killed her, after which she committed suicide.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: After her sacrifice, Rei II is replaced by a third and final clone. All the other bodies in Terminal Dogma are later destroyed by Ritsuko. Thanks to her close relationship with Shinji, the last Rei decides to rebel against Gendo's will. Rei III thus acts as the main catalyst behind an apocalyptic event named Third Impact. She merges with Lilith, letting Shinji freely decide the course of Instrumentality, during which all of mankind unites into one collective consciousness. A giant white and naked Rei emerges into open space during the process, holding Shinji's Eva-01, and, when Shinji rejects Instrumentality, this figure decomposes. After Shinji rematerializes, he briefly sees a version of Rei watching over him from a distance before vanishing.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Rei returns as a primary character in "Rebuild of Evangelion" and appears in the first installment of the saga, "" (2007). Her character remains virtually identical to the anime, acting as a pilot of Evangelion Unit-00 and helping Shinji defeat Angel Ramiel. Writer Thomas LaMarre noted that the "Rebuild" make the relationship between Shinji and Rei a more central element to the story, increasing and improving the scenes depicting them. In the second movie, "" (2009), her character develops and her relationship with Shinji is shown much more openly than in the original series. In a departure from her original traits, she attempts to host a dinner party for her fellow pilots. Anno first thought to use this idea for the fourth episode of the original anime, but the proposal was shelved during the production of the series. During the climax, Angel Zeruel devours Rei and Unit-00. When Unit-01 goes out of control, Shinji forces his way into the Angel pulling her out, and the two embrace each other; at the end of the fight, they are both trapped within Unit-01 as the action triggers the Third Impact. During the feature film, it is also suggested that Gendō and Fuyutsuki plan to bring Shinji and Rei together; for assistant director, Tsurumaki, questioned about this, Anno "didn't think very deeply" about it, while for the final scene there was probably the idea of "bringing the two boys together" on the part of the director.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: In the third installment "" (2012) set fourteen years later, the same Rei does not appear; a different clone is introduced instead, who acts differently than the other Rei, maintaining a cold and silent demeanor. In "" (2021), the last film of the saga, Rei's new clone, named Ayanami (Tentative Name), heads together with Shinji and Asuka Shikinami to a small town called Village 3, inhabited by survivors of the various Impacts that occurred and isolated from the outside world, almost uninhabitable. Here Rei interacts with the adult Toji Suzuhara and Hikari Horaki, old schoolmates of the previous clone, with the children and women of Village 3, helping them to work in the fields; with time the new Ayanami begins to develop her individuality, gradually discovering the world around her and learning to socialize with the inhabitants. After some time, however, Rei (Tentative Name), whose real name turns out to be Ayanami-Type No.006, is unable to maintain her form without the continuous contact with the Evangelion's LCL liquid and dies in front of Shinji. During the Instrumentality, Shinji meets again the Rei of fourteen years before, who remained inside the Eva-01. The old Rei, with visibly long hair, argues with her companion, who decides to live in a world without Evangelions and give the world a new birth, Neon Genesis. Rei and Shinji then say goodbye to each other for the last time, shaking hands and smiling.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: In the official "Neon Genesis Evangelion" manga, by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, further differences are evident in the characterization of Rei. In the manga, she is generally more empathetic and open to human contact compared to her animated counterpart. In the comic, moreover, the character has more space than Asuka, who in the anime, under the influence of Hideaki Anno, has a predominant role. Compared to the classic series, Sadamoto tried to tread his hand on her relationship with Shinji, particularly insisting on the symbology of the touch of the hands and the theme of motherhood, inspired by Kazuo Umezu's "The Drifting Classroom". As in the series, she at first considers herself empty and useless, created solely for piloting the Evangelion under Ikari's orders; Shinji's touch changes his attitude. In a scene from the fifth volume of the manga where they are both at Rei's house, Rei gets burned while preparing tea with Shinji and their hands touch for a moment. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Rei invites Shinji to speak to his father and open up to him; in another chapter, thinking back to that moment, she wonders if her hands will one day be able to touch Shinji again. During the clash with the Angel Armisael, Rei becomes increasingly aware of her feelings of sadness and affection towards Shinji, towards whom she demonstrates a certain romantic interest. Sadamoto himself described Shinji and Rei's feelings as mutual love.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: In a scene from the last episode of the animated series, an alternate reality is presented with a different story than the previous episodes; Rei is presented as a girl who has just moved into the class of Asuka and Shinji, with a radically different personality: cheerful, distracted and irascible. An outgoing Rei is featured in some "Neon Genesis Evangelion" spin-offs, such as "", set in the alternate reality of the last episode. In the original web anime series "", a parody of the original animated series, three Ayanami sisters are presented, one is diligent and introverted; another sport oriented and extroverted; and another is a four-year-old girl with a passion for soft toys. In "", set three years after "End of Evangelion" in an alternate scenario, several Rei appears; Rei Troi, pilot of an Eva named Evangelion Unit-02 Type II Allegorica, Rei Quatre, Rei Cinq and the seven-year-old version Rei Six, all of them pilots of Evangelion-0.0 units. In "", Rei shares a mysterious connection with Kaworu that triggers Shinji's attention. She is also present in "Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legend of the Piko Piko Middle School Students". In a simulation game entitled "", the player takes on the task of looking after Rei. She is also available as a romantic option in "", "Neon Genesis Evangelion 2", "" and its manga adaptation, wherein she is a distant cousin of Shinji. In addition to games based on the original series, Rei has appeared in media not related to the "Evangelion" franchise, such as "Monster Strike", "Super Robot Wars", "Tales of Zestiria", "Puzzle & Dragons", "Keri hime sweets", "Summons Board", "Puyopuyo!! Quest", "Line Rangers", "Unison", "MapleStory", "Valkyrie Connect", "Ragnarok Online", "The Battle Cats" and in an official "Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion" crossover episode.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Rei Ayanami is a taciturn girl who limits relations as much as possible and mechanically executes any order given to her, even if particularly cruel. She is introverted, socially detached and laconic. Sociologist Satomi Ishikawa noticed that in a scene from the sixth episode of the series ("Rei II") her companion Shinji asks her the reason that pushes her to want to pilot Evangelion 00; Rei replies saying she finds her only "bond" with other people in this, thus demonstrating that she is committed to the struggle against the Angels "as if it were the only reason why she exists". Throughout the series she proves to be indifferent to life and engages herself in drastic acts that could cost her life. Writer Justin Wu ("The Artifice") noticed that, unlike other characters from the series, she does not care if she dies, and embraces death "as if death is the only way to prove that she has lived". For the critic Gerald Alva Miller, despite her cold attitude, Rei experiences feelings of alienation and existential angst. Gualtiero Cannarsi, who cured the Italian adaptation for the series, similarly described Rei as a girl "unaware of the most basic rules of life and hygiene", as she has had no one to teach them to her, resulting in her being disinterested in them. Her attitude is reflected in her apartment, where hygiene is neglected. In one episode Ritsuko Akagi says, like Commander Ikari, she "is not very adept at living". Scattered on the floor of her apartment are scientific texts on biological interactions and genetics written in Latin alphabet in the original series, and "The Happy Prince and Other Tales" in the "Rebuild of Evangelion" series. Critic Susan J. Napier also noticed that, in the last two episodes, she confesses to wanting to die and "go back to nothing". According to "Evangelion" character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, she is "translucent", like a shadow or "the air": "The kind of girl you can't touch. The girl you long for, but there is nothing about her that you can grab a hold onto." He also interpreted Asuka and Rei as "strong characters, in their own separate ways". Furthermore, Hayashibara described her as an "ethereal character", since: "Her emotions are like waves, so if I was off by even one millimeter it would affect her character, and I'd have to redo it".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: During a show a little girl asked Hideaki Anno what Rei likes, and he replied that he never thought about it. According to him, she does not appreciate her own life, hurts herself and feels she does not need friends, being aware of the fact that "there'll be another to replace her": "Her presence, her existence—ostensible existence—is ephemeral. She's a very sad girl. She only has the barest minimum of what she needs to have." Anno also understands the Japanese national attraction to characters like Rei as the product of a stunted imaginative landscape born of Japan's defeat in the Second World War, because "since that time, the education we received is not one that creates adults". The architect Kaichiro Morikawa compared the face of the first Rei, usually presented in a distorted and deformed way, to the installations of Tony Oursler, also comparing her bedroom to Gottfried Helnwein's photographs. Writer Claudio Cordella associated her personality to that of the female characters portrayed by the painter Edward Burne-Jones, and her gaze to the "fixed and lifeless eyes" of the Olympia from "The Tales of Hoffmann". Takekuma Kentaro also linked the image of Rei in bandages to the photos of Romain Slocombe, while Sadamoto compared her to the works of mangaka Sensha Yoshida. In an interview with Anno, Japanese writer and academic Ōizumi Mitsunari likened the figure of Rei to the girls committed to the Japanese sect Aum Shinrikyō, which carried out the Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995, as "completely dependent on their guru", Shōkō Asahara. The book "Schizo Evangelion", edited by him, describes her as "a sacrifice offered to all the Japanese mama's boys and sadists" and in a series of dichotomies, such as opium and euphoria, Satan and God, "the infinite power of Eros" and "the blinding power of Thanatos at the same time", "a sarin prepared by Gendo Ikari for his plan to destroy humanity", the "keyhole of Pandora's box" and the Great Bad Mother trying to take in her son.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: For the scholar Hiroki Azuma, Rei Ayanami introduces a "new type of solitude". Before her, anime characters were divided between sociable girls, with expensive clothes and cosmetics, technological gadgets and often engaged in prostitution activities named kogal, and otaku, isolated characters, with rooms full of "computer software" and magazines. Rei, according to Azuma, transcends the two stereotypes; he likened her room to Satyam, scientific laboratories of Aum Shinrikyō. Critic Krystian Woznicki also compared her to Pinocchio in the film "964 Pinocchio" (1991), but "Rei's character is quite realistic, whereas Pinocchio is completely removed from reality". Japanese critic Tamaki Saitō described her as "the culmination of the pygmalionism that began with "Nanako SOS"", while Kenneth Lee noted a similarity in her path of self-awareness with Pinocchio and Key from "Key the Metal Idol". Furthermore, writer Tamaki Saito reported that Ami Mizuno from "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" has been interpreted as "the prototype" of Rei.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Critics linked her silent and inexpressive personality to alexithymia or a schizoid personality disorder. An official "Death and Rebirth" booklet describes her as "an expressionless noh mask" and "a girl who does not dream", while the book "Schizo Evangelion" as "a dreamless mind, completely separated from Jung's collective unconscious". According to Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Rei is capable of feeling emotions and feelings but has expressive and communicative difficulties. From the first episodes of the series, Shinji tries to connect with her; however, Rei is unable to parse the meaning of his words and actions adequately. Although the two pilots occasionally converse with each other, they cannot communicate on an emotional level and do not understand their feelings. However, facing a crying Shinji, who is glad that she is alive after a big fight in the sixth episode, she smiles, marking one of her most significant moments of character development. After this, both their words and actions move to a place of mutual understanding. For critic Manabu Tsuribe, with her smile in the sixth episode "Neon Genesis Evangelion" reaches its climax, and "as a story of 'growth and independence of a boy' — like a Bildungsroman — ended there once. "Evangelion" as a story has stopped there". In the last episodes of the series this Rei dies and is replaced by another clone, who acts like a stranger to Shinji. Anno compared the story after her smile scene, in which there is a step back in interpersonal communication, to Hideki Gō, a character from the "Return of Ultraman" series; Gō seems to get closer to other people and his colleagues from the Monster Attack Team, but "then next week things begin again from [a position of] estrangement". He also added: "At that point something emerges of my mistrust or fear of communication with others".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Academic Frenchy Lunning described Rei as Shinji's anima. In one of the first scenes of the "Evangelion" anime, Shinji sees a ghost of Rei Ayanami in a deserted city near Tokyo-3. The Rei visible in the sequence is not the real Rei; the appearance has been connected to the scenario of the film "The End of Evangelion", released in 1997 as a conclusion to the classic series. During the film, all forms of life come together in one being during the Instrumentality; human beings, shortly before dying, see Rei's ghosts appear, guiding them in the process as "messengers of redemption". According to Yūichirō Oguro, editor of some of the contents of the Japanese home video editions of "Evangelion", the Rei's ghost Shinji sees on the avenue is "the existence that gazes upon man", and the scene symbolizes that "Shinji is protected by his mother since the beginning of the series". For screenwriter Yōji Enokido, she produces in young men a feeling of distance "as though they were still half in the womb". Patrick Drazen and Dani Cavallaro noticed that, like other "Neon Genesis Evangelion" characters who have traits of some deities of Shinto mythology, Rei has affinities with the goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu, who is reborn at every dawn. They also compared the show's two other protagonists, Shinji and Asuka, with Susanoo and Ama-no-Uzume, respectively; Shinji, like Susanoo, has clumsily social manners and unsociable behavior, while Asuka, like Uzume, is ebullient and flaunts her body. According to Italian scholar Fabio Bartoli, her three incarnations could be linked to the three evolutionary stages of the soul postulated by the Jewish Qabbalah—Nephesh (the mere animal vitality), Ruach (the normal human soul) and Neshamah (the elevated spirit, after the connection between man and God). Her image is often flanked by that of the Moon, a celestial body associated with motherhood, pallor, passivity and femininity. Japanese engineer Yumiko Yano noticed a hieratic and unattainable aura in Rei Ayanami, comparing her to the Virgin Mary. Yano also has associated her figure with the fragile and chaste women portrayed in "fin de siècle" art, particularly popular among the works of Symbolists painters. For Kazuya Tsurumaki, Shinji feels a sexual and incestuous desire for her, while Kentaro Takekuma described her as an "eternal virgin".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Reception to Rei's character has been positive. Since 1995, she became the subject of homages from the "Neon Genesis Evangelion" fandom, including fan fiction, fan art and" dōjinshi", proving popular. Writer Patrick W. Galbraith described her as "the single most popular and influential character in the history of "otaku" anime". She also ranked highly in popularity surveys. Immediately after "Evangelion's" first airing concluded, the 1996 and 1997 Anime Grand Prix survey by "Animage" magazine elected Rei best female character of the moment. In 1998, when "Revival of Evangelion" was released, she ranked fifth as the most popular "Evangelion" female character. Rei also appeared in the monthly surveys of the magazine, remeaning in the top ten in 1997 and 1998 and in the top twenty in the 1999 polls. In 2002 TV Asahi ranked her 36th among the 100 most loved characters in anime history. TV Asahi later published the results of polls on anime's greatest scenes; all the "Evangelion" scenes which ranked in the lists were related to the character.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Rei Ayanami also won first place in "Newtype" magazine popularity charts. In July 2005, for example, she emerged tenth, and the magazine itself wrote that: "Her many charms and mysteries continue to shine and captivate fans even now, ten years after the broadcast". In August and September 2009, after the release of "Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance", she ranked in fourth and second place. In October, she took third place, becoming the most popular "Evangelion" female character. Rei was also voted the most popular female anime character from the 1990s in a "Newtype" poll in March 2010. In 2015, almost twenty years after its debut, she conquered the first place among the female characters favored by fans, thus beating all the heroines of the anime of the season, while in 2018 "Rebuild" Rei was included among the best thirty characters of the previous decade. In 2013 the NHK "Shibuya Anime Land" radio show ranked her among the ten top anime heroines of all time.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: For Oricon News, Rei's character has become "Evangelion"s emblem. She also ranked in "Evangelion" popularity polls, usually in the top three. A column in the September 2007 issue of the "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" newspaper said, on the occasion of "Evangelion 1.0" theatrical release, that there were over one million dedicated Rei fans in Japan and that, "This bandaged Goddess is an icon of Japanese anime." She also had a place in Mania Entertainment's ten iconic anime heroines list written by Thomas Zoth, who commented on the large amount of merchandise based on her: "Shops in Akihabara struggled to keep Rei Ayanami figurines and toys in stock. ... Many critics also credit Ayanami for starting the "moe" boom in anime, with its reliance on weak, vulnerable characters that the audience would desire to protect". In March and April 2021, after release of the final "Rebuild" film, she finished eighth and sixth most popular female character in a "Newtype" poll, and sixth and second place in May and June.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Rei has been well received by critics. Japanese cultural critic Hiroki Azuma described Rei Ayanami as "an extremely impressive character", praising the performance of Megumi Hayashibara and its psychological realism, since "Rei's solitude is grounded in a completely tactile substantiality which gives us extremely realistic images of the discommunication that children of the present face". "Newtype" praised the fifth and the sixth episode, describing the drawings of the scene in which she smiles at Gendo ("Rei I") as "excellent", and the scene where she greets Shinji before the battle against the Angel Ramiel ("Rei II") as "impressive". In February 1996, "Animedia" magazine ranked her smile scene from the sixth episode among the most memorable anime moments of the month. Justin Wu ("The Artifice") also praised the scene, describing it as a "powerful" and "iconic moment", since it is "the first time she has deliberately shown an emotion, and one of the handful of times she has done so throughout the whole series". WatchMojo described it as a "touching" moment; it also found Rei "an undeniable glimmer of light" among the dark tones of the series, as "her progressive relationship with Shinji demonstrated just how much charm she had hidden beneath that cold shell".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Screen Rant and Comic Book Resources praised her development and the various revelations about her identity, placing her among the best characters in the series. "Science-Fiction Weekly"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Tasha Robinson expressed appreciation for the character's conclusion. Comic Book Resources' Luke Penn positively received the differences introduced in Sadamoto's manga and the increased space dedicated to her. "IGN" ranked her tenth on its list of the top twenty-five anime characters of all time. Writer Chris Mackenzie described Rei as "a hugely influential character concept", adding she was different from similar characters, since: "The difference between Rei and so many almost-Reis is that there might be something behind the façade."


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Other critics expressed a negative opinion of the character. The Anime-planet.com site, while appreciating some interesting revelations about her past and still considering her "by far the most interesting character", was critical that her character had not been "explored as much as she should have been". Animecritics.com wrote, "[Rei] has absolutely no personality to speak of, and she remains an enigma for most of the series. Part of the intrigue in the series is discovering the secrets she holds." THEM Anime Reviews' Raphael See criticized the characterization of the whole "Evangelion" cast for being "cliche", saying he did not understand the reasons for her great popularity. Anime News Network's Kenneth Lee considered her character arc a wasted opportunity, as he considered that "a 'dummy shell,' gaining a soul could had an entire series devoted to it". Comic Book Resources' Anthony Gramuglia praised her character design but criticized her lack of development, especially in the 1997 cinematic finale.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: While reviewing the "Rebuild of Evangelion" films, writers from Anime News Network commented on Rei. On "Evangelion 1.0", Carlo Santos noticed that Rei's personality is the same as in the TV series, and "those who hated the original "Evangelion" for its highly dysfunctional characters still won't find anything to like in this version", while Justin Sevakis praised her response to Shinji's kindness in "Evangelion 2.0". UK Anime described "Rebuild"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Rei as a more human character who is easier to empathize with. The Fandom Post appreciated the fact that she becomes progressively more independent from Gendo, while Mark Sombillo (Anime News Network) wrote: "Her personality and plight form much more of the core motivation of the story and despite her still tryingly hesitant attempts at communication, there's genuine warmth beneath her actions and it's hard not to be won over by her".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Her role in the last installment of the saga, "Evangelion 3.0+1.0", received a particularly positive reception from critics and reviewers, especially for its optimistic view. Critics praised her journey and campy scenes in the first part of the film as "immersive" and "moving". Crunchyroll's Daryl Harding described them as "one of the nicest parts of the film". The Otaku Revolution website positively compared "Rebuild"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Rei with the one of the television series, also praising the warmth of her actions and her growth path: "She's allowed to be more animated, even as she is alien, a wonderful dichotomy that makes her part of the story irresistible". Geek Ireland praised how "Thrice Upon a Time" gives a sense of conclusion to Rei, Shinji, and the other characters, while "Paste" magazine lauded the fact that the movie shows Rei and the other pilots outside the militarized and violent context of the battles. According to Gizmodo, she has "the most complete journey" among those presented by "3.0+1.0", while Otaku Voice wrote that: "Watching Rei discover the real world through her childlike eyes of wonder is one of the greatest pleasures of the film". Otaquest's Chris Cimi similarly praised her character development, saying that her actions "make for something different and warm", but "still "Evangelion"".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Thomas Zoth (Mania.com) wrote, "Rei Ayanami proved such a popular character that she started a merchandising boom". Her image was used in a wide range of products, including toys, t-shirts, action figures, musical instruments, life-size statues, makeup, accessories and reproductions of her clothing. On March 30, 2001, King Records launched an album entitled "Evangelion: The Birthday of Rei Ayanami". In 2012, a team built an tall figure of the character outside of the NTV Tower in the Shiodome area of Tokyo as part of the Shiohaku Expo 2012 summer amusement event. The following year, a reproduction of the girl's bedroom was built, and a life-size model was exhibited at the Eva Expo in Shanghai. In 2020, Honda used Rei and other characters from the series for a number of commercials, which aired on the occasion of a collaboration between "Evangelion" and Honda Civic.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: In 2007 her costumes ranked first among the best selling cosplay costumes of the year by the company Cospa. Rei Ayanami's action figures also enjoyed success. Writer Thomas LaMarre wrote that Sadamoto's design for the character became ""the" sensation of the series", selling "an unprecedented number of figurines" and spurring expensive speculation about her character in the press and the world of anime criticism. The high sales of Ayanami merchandise have been described by scholar Patrick Galbraith as a turning point for the Japanese market, helping to expand the figures and fanzines sector, with "entire fanzine conventions ... committed to the series and its characters". According to one estimate, plastic models before "Evangelion" sold about three thousand units, but Rei's figures managed to reach ten times that amount, and for Galbraith "the series overlapped with a boom in figurines of anime characters and the spread of the Internet, making otaku consumption and community more conspicuous". "Newtype USA" magazine similarly wrote that: "Hordes of otaku flooded Akihabara in search of the enigmatic Rei Ayanami, and companies realized for the first time that catering to the geek crowd could be very profitable. ... Akihabara itself has transformed from an 'electric town' famous for household appliances to the geek paradise it is today".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: In 2005, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the first airing of "Evangelion", "mangaka" Mine Yoshizaki designed several action figures of the Angels with anthropomorphic appearances; among the various models, he devised a figure of the Angel Lilith inspired by Rei's character design. According to Japanese writer Kazuhisa Fujie, despite models and toys in the series being a commercial failure at first, Rei's action figures immediately became so popular that they exceeded Evangelion's unit sales, thus creating the first and perhaps the only case of a robotic anime "where reproductions of the human characters outsold those of the robots". Furthermore, books and magazines portraying her on the cover were successful. She also appeared on the cover of an issue of "Rolling Stone" Japanese edition, among others. An artbook about her named was published in 1997. According to Fujie, sales of Rei-themed merchandise led Japanese media to call her "the girl who manipulates magazine sales at will", "the fastest route to the sold-out sign" and "the Premium Girl".


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Rei Ayanami had a significant influence on Japanese animation and subsequent fictional characters, with heroines created after the great success of "Evangelion" sharing her traits. Critics regarded Rei and her success as the beginning of the moe phenomenon, with the creation of characters according to definite stereotyped features easily recognizable and consumable by the Japanese "otaku" audience. In the late 1990s, characters bearing a close resemblance to Rei have been produced and consumed on a massive scale in comics, anime and novelizations, both in the commercial market and the fanzine market.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: According to Japanese scholar Hiroki Azuma, this output is not linked to a direct "Evangelion" influence, since "the emergence of Ayanami Rei did not influence many authors so much as change the rules of the moe-elements sustaining otaku culture". As a result, even authors who were not deliberately thinking of "Evangelion" began to produce characters resembling Rei, using newly registered moe-elements, such as a quiet personality, blue hair, white skin, mysterious power and an absence of emotions. For Azuma, moreover, the twenty-sixth episode, in which an alternative reality with Rei running with a slice of bread in her mouth is shown, constitutes a turning point within the otaku culture. The scene, according to him, represents the point where the era of great stories ends and that of moe characters begins; from that point on, therefore, the emotional response to the protagonists would become more important than the plot of the series. He also regarded Ruriko Tsukishima from "Shizuku" as being directly influenced by Rei, and Ruri Hoshino of "Martian Successor Nadesico" as a combination of both.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Critics compared other characters to her, including Miharu in "Gasaraki", Vanilla H in "Galaxy Angel", Maya in "Geobreeders", Neya in "Infinite Ryvius", Aruto Kirihara in "Kagihime Monogatari Eikyū Alice Rondo", Riza Hawkeye in "Fullmetal Alchemist", Dorothy R. Wayneright in "The Big O", Anthy Himemiya in "Revolutionary Girl Utena", Chise in "Saikano", Yuzuriha Inori in "Guilty Crown", Miyu in "My-HiME", Ai in "", Diya in "Butterfly Soup", Yashiro Kasumi in "Muv-Luv" and the female cyborgs in "Gunslinger Girl". "Serial Experiments Lain"s Lain Iwakura was also associated with the character; "Lain"s main screenwriter Chiaki J. Konaka stated he was not influenced from "Evangelion" and, while appreciating their characteristics, he said he did not see similarities between the two characters. Eureka from "Eureka Seven" has similarly been compared to Rei Ayanami, causing dissatisfaction in series screenwriter Dai Satō. "Rurouni Kenshin"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s author Nobuhiro Watsuki compared Yukishiro Tomoe to Rei. He said Yukishiro became an Ayanami lookalike, with the only unique feature being her black pupils. The author originally conceived her as a "cool beauty", but, once she revealed her true feelings in the end, she became a different character.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Justin Wu ("The Artifice") regards Rei as the prototypical , a term used by anime fans to describe reticent and emotionless characters, usually with a monotone voice who speak to-the-point, and avoid unnecessary conversations. This moe element, which gained wide popularity only after Rei's success, can be found in numerous subsequent female characters, including Eva in "Black Cat", Ai Enma in "Hell Girl" and Yuki Nagato in "Haruhi Suzumiya". The character is also credited to have popularized the "kuudere" stereotype, a term for male or female characters who hide their true feelings behind a melancholic and cold facade. According to Kaichiro Morikawa, a Japanese architect and academic, characters with physical defects before "Evangelion" and Rei Ayanami were rare, such as Char Aznable in "Mobile Suit Gundam", who has a scar on his forehead, and Princess Kushana in "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind". Justin Wu also noticed that, after the success of the series, the bandages gained great popularity, becoming the trademark of the character and a common feature in cosplays.


title: Rei Ayanami

text: Japanese band Rey derived its name from her. Singer and guitarist Motoo Fujiwara wrote the lyrics of the song "Arue" taking inspiration from Rei, with the English title "R.A." inspired by the initial letters of her name. Ging Nang Boyz album "Door" features a song named . According to the Japanese site Animentalism, the track "Ray" by rock band Luna Sea, published in the single "In Silence" and composed by Sugizo, could be a tribute to Rei Ayanami. Artists have produced fan art about her, including Okama, Huke, Hiroya Oku and Arina Tanemura. Celebrities paid tribute to Rei cosplaying her, including Shoko Nakagawa, Natsuki Katō, Miu Nakamura, Yuuri Morishita, Umika Kawashima, Rio Uchida, Kokoro Shinozaki and Shōma Uno. During Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2012 English model Jourdan Dunn wore a dress similar to the character's plugsuit; Gainax only learned about the outfit from the Internet and was perplexed by the situation. "" contains a reference to the character. Rei's image appeared on a shirt of a character from the "Veronica's Closet" series. Further references have been identified in other Japanese animated series, including "Joshiraku", "", "Gurren Lagann", and "Nisemonogatari", in which her line from the sixth episode "You won't die, because I'll protect you" is parodied. According to "Vogue", her plugsuit also inspired a piece of clothing for the spring 2016 line by the fashion house Louis Vuitton.


title: Jen Ledger

text: Jennifer Carole Ledger (born 8 December 1989) is an English singer, drummer and co-vocalist for the American Christian rock band Skillet. At the age of 18, she became Skillet's drummer when Lori Peters retired.


title: Jen Ledger

text: Ledger released a solo EP in 2018 under the name Ledger. Several songs hit the Christian Rock chart and several other songs hit the Contemporary Christian music chart.


title: Jen Ledger

text: Ledger was born in Coventry and started playing the drums when she was 13. Ledger attended Coventry Blue Coat Church of England School where she passed her GCSEs. She played drums in a local band and was a finalist for the United Kingdom Drummer of the Year competition in 2006.


title: Jen Ledger

text: She relocated to the United States at age 16 to major in drums with a scholarship at Living Light School of Worship in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She joined the band The Spark; since the band already had a drummer, she played bass.


title: Jen Ledger

text: Band members from Skillet discovered Ledger when they attended church services in the United States, where she was living at the time, and asked Ledger to audition for an open drummer spot in the band. She has been Skillet's drummer and female vocalist since 2008, beginning with their promotional tour for the album "Comatose".


title: Jen Ledger

text: Ledger stated that she and bandmate Korey Cooper began to write music for her own pop-influenced solo-project album in about 2012.


title: Jen Ledger

text: In March 2018, it was announced that her debut EP, "Ledger", was scheduled to be released on 13 April. She has signed a deal with Atlantic Records and Hear it Loud, the imprint launched by Skillet's John and Korey Cooper and manager Zachary Kelm. "Ledger" was produced by Korey Cooper along with writer and producer Seth Mosley. Ledger was named the opening act for Skillet's Unleashed tour. On 6 April, she released an official audio for the song "Not Dead Yet" on YouTube. In a 2018 Billboard article, Deborah Evans Price stated that “Ledger wrote “Not Dead Yet” about a difficult time in her life when she was badly struggling with anxiety, fear and panic attacks.”


title: Jen Ledger

text: On 8 October 2018, it was announced that Ledger would be performing at the 2019 Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, along with Newsboys, Danny Gokey, Mandisa and Rend Collective.


title: Jen Ledger

text: On 15 February 2019, Ledger released her non-album single, "Completely," followed by a music video published on 27 March.


title: Jen Ledger

text: On 14 February 2020, Ledger released her second non-album single, "My Arms", which was accompanied by a lyric video the same day.


title: The Frog Prince

text: "The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" (, literally "The Frog King or the Iron Henry") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in "Grimm's Fairy Tales" (KHM 1). Traditionally, it is the first story in their folktale collection. The tale is classified as Aarne-Thompson type 440.


title: The Frog Prince

text: The story is best known through the rendition of the Brothers Grimms, who published it in their 1812 edition of "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" ("Grimm's Fairy Tales"), as tale no. 1. An older, moralistic version was included in the Grimms' handwritten Ölenberg Manuscript from 1810. Jack Zipes noted in 2016 that the Grimms greatly treasured this tale, considering it to be one of the "oldest and most beautiful in German-speaking regions."


title: The Frog Prince

text: The Grimms' source is unclear, but it apparently comes from an oral tradition of Dortchen Wild's family in Kassel. The volume 2 of the first edition of "Kinder- und Hausmärchen", published in 1815, included a variation of this story entitled "Der Froschprinz" (The Frog Prince), published as tale no. 13. As this version was not included in later editions, it has since remained relatively unknown.


title: The Frog Prince

text: It has been postulated by some scholars that parts of the tale may extend back until at least Roman times; an aspect of the story is referred to in Petronius' "Satyricon", in which the character Trimalchio remarks, "qui fuit rana nunc est rex" ("The man who was once a frog is now a king"). Other scholars, however, argue that this may actually be a jab at the emperor Nero, who was often mockingly compared to a frog.


title: The Frog Prince

text: Folkorist Stith Thompson suggested that the story of the Frog King in the German tradition began with a 13th-century literary tale written in Latin.


title: The Frog Prince

text: In the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends the Frog Prince, whom she met after dropping a golden ball into a pond under a linden tree, and he retrieves it for her in exchange for her friendship. The Frog Prince, who is under a wicked fairy's spell, magically transforms back into a handsome prince. In the original Grimm version of the story, the frog's spell was broken when the princess threw the frog against the wall, at which he transformed back into a prince, while in modern versions the transformation is triggered by the princess kissing the frog.


title: The Frog Prince

text: The frog prince also has a loyal servant named Henry (or Harry) who had three iron bands affixed around his heart to prevent it from breaking in his sadness when his master got under a spell. When the frog prince reverts to his human form, Henry's overwhelming happiness causes all three bands to break, freeing his heart from its bonds.


title: The Frog Prince

text: A similar tale type is ATU 402, "The Animal Bride". In these tales, a female animal (mouse, cat or frog) helps a prince with three tasks and after marrying him, assumes human form. In "Puddocky" (old word for toad), another German folk tale, and likewise "Tsarevna Lyagushka" ("The Frog Princess"), a Russian folk tale, the male and female roles of the frog prince are reversed. Prince Ivan Tsarevitch discovers the enchanted female frog, who becomes Vasilisa the Wise, a sorceress.


title: The Frog Prince

text: A possible parallel in Antiquity may be found in the story of Amymone, who was one of the Danaides. She went to fetch water in a jug because of a drought season caused by the gods. A satyr tried to force himself on her, but the god Poseidon rescued her. It has been suggested that the amphibian suitor and the handsome prince may have been separate characters at first.


title: The Frog Prince

text: In a Latvian tale, "Little White Dog", a girl is tasked with getting water from a well without getting the bucket wet. A little white dog appears and promises to help her if she accepts him as her bridegroom.


title: Soviet Empire

text: Soviet Empire is a political term which is used in Sovietology to describe the actions and power of the Soviet Union, with an emphasis on its dominant role in other countries.


title: Soviet Empire

text: In the wider sense, the term refers to the country's foreign policy during the Cold War, which has been characterized as imperialist: the nations which were part of the Soviet Empire were nominally independent countries with separate governments that set their own policies, but those policies had to stay within certain limits decided by the Soviet Union. These limits were enforced by the threat of intervention by Soviet forces, and later the Warsaw Pact. Major military interventions took place in East Germany in 1953, Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968, Poland in 1980-81 and Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. Countries in the Eastern Bloc were considered satellite states.


title: Soviet Empire

text: Although the Soviet Union was not ruled by an emperor, and declared itself anti-imperialist and a people's democracy, it exhibited tendencies common to historic empires. The notion of "Soviet empire" often refers to a form of "classic" or "colonial" empire with communism only replacing conventional imperial ideologies such as Christianity or monarchy, rather than creating a revolutionary state. Academically the idea is seen as emerging with Richard Pipes' 1957 book "The Formation of the Soviet Union: Communism and Nationalism, 1917–1923," but it has been reinforced, along with several other views, in continuing scholarship. Several scholars hold that the Soviet Union was a hybrid entity containing elements common to both multinational empires and nation states. The Soviet Union practiced colonialism similar to conventional imperial powers.


title: Soviet Empire

text: The Soviets pursued internal colonialism in Central Asia. For example, the state's prioritized grain production over livestock in Kyrgyzstan, which favored Slavic settlers over the Kyrgyz natives, thus perpetuating the inequalities of the tsarist colonial era. Maoists argued that the Soviet Union had itself become an imperialist power while maintaining a socialist façade, or social imperialism. Another dimension of Soviet imperialism is cultural imperialism, the Sovietization of culture and education at the expense of local traditions. Leonid Brezhnev continued a policy of cultural Russification as part of Developed Socialism, which sought to assert more central control. Seweryn Bialer argued that the Soviet state had an imperial nationalism.


title: Soviet Empire

text: From the 1930s through the 1950s, Joseph Stalin ordered population transfers in the Soviet Union, deporting people (often entire nationalities) to underpopulated remote areas. The policy officially ended in the Khrushchev era, with many of the nationalities allowed to return in 1957. However, Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev refused the right of return for Crimean Tatars, Russian Germans and Meskhetian Turks. In 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Russia declared the Stalinist mass deportations to be a "policy of defamation and genocide".