Evangelion Unit 03

Review by Cedar

The Evangelion Unit 03 Production Model is an imposing, sleek, and ominous black beauty of a toy. Much like the other Soul of Chogokin Eva Units that have been previously released, the figure's ability to strike a pose is unmatched by other SOCs. Its many points of articulation enable the Eva to kneel and stand on one foot, or just look dangerous, with ease. It is heavy and has a solid feel, with die-cast legs, arms, torso, and chest. Its head is plastic and the jaw opens and closes.

Evangelion Unit 03 Production Model comes with many accessories:

• 2 sets of hands which pop off and snap on with ease,
• 2 sets of shoulder armor, one for looks, and the other with a needle-gun gimmick and knife-sheath gimmick.
• 3 white Entry Plugs which houses the pilots in the anime; these store nicely into the back of the Eva's neck and fire out with surprising force with the press of a switch.
• The gooey Parasite Angel from the anime is also represented here and can be mounted in the back of the Eva's neck.

Unit 03 also comes with a small arsenal of guns and melee weapons including:

• Bazooka (large type) which can be held over the shoulder
• Requisite Pallet Rifle with carrying case that all Eva's come with. The carrying case can be mounted on the Eva's shoulder armor.
• Smash Hawk (a battle axe)
• Glaive (long spear)
• Requisite Progressive Knife which can be secured nicely in the Eva's left shoulder armor compartment.

There are a few small issues. The display stand, although cool as it represents the elevator base that charges the Eva unit, is identical to other display stands from the SOC Eva line and the weapons and Eva do NOT fit nicely on it. Also, the melee weapons, with their thin grips and handles, all fit very loosely in the Eva's hands. Thankfully, this problem is only with the melee weapons; the Eva is able to brandish its guns very well (the index finger even goes onto the trigger!). Also, regretfully, the Eva does not come with the long stretchy arms and legs that it had in the anime, which would make it look even more monstrous. I guess Bandai felt that the extra weapons would compensate!

Perhaps the biggest drawback of this toy is its similarity with its Eva brethren, especially with red Eva (GX-15) and the chrome Eva (GX-22). However, Evangelion Unit 03 Production Model is truly a toy of exceptional quality, which oozes cool and deserves to have a place on every toy nut's shelf. Maybe it's only because of the mesmerizing black and purple combination of colors, but if one were to choose to buy only one Eva, this one could certainly be a worthy contender, right up there with the purple Unit 01 and chrome Unit 04.

Evangelion Unit 03 Production Model was released March 2004 for ¥5775