Wrong. In the second film both Shinji and Rei seemed to come out of their shells and connect to people more, and their relationship helped this. Them ending up together could have been possible (but incredibly creepy) but it wasn't the only route they could have gone.
But here all of it is not so much turned into a tragedy as it is written out of existence. Rei's disappearance isn't used to flesh out the characters, it's a mere plot device to allow the stupid finale to happen. Even in the end it isn't addressed in any way: Shinji's not trying to come to terms with it or accept the new Rei. It not being explained doesn't make it a tragedy, it's only confusing. In the original we knew why Rei was replaced: she got blown up for crying out loud. But here it's just handwaved away, like so many other things.
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