Makinami Mari Illustrious
Review by VZMK2
Starting in 2007, the highly popular anime from the 90’s Neon Genesis Evangelion was brought back as four theatrical compilation films, retelling the story using modern digital 2D and 3D animation to reanimate portions of the original series, along with brand new events to make the story easier to digest. The first film, Evangelion 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, was more or less an exact retelling of the first six episodes of the TV series, along with a few changes, but nothing major. The second film, Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, however, was all newly animated footage with lots of new changes. One of these changes was an addition of a mysterious new character, the glasses-wearing Makinami Mari Illustrious. In the beginning, she pilots the centaur like Provisional Eva Unit-05, while later she takes Asuka’s Eva-02. While piloting the 02, she activates a secret mode called “The Beast”, used to battle the angel Zeruel. To me, she was one of the best additions to the film.
The figure reviewed here is a 1/6 scale PVC statue by Kotobukiya. Having a few other figures made by them, I can attest that their quality remains high while having fair prices and this figure doesn’t disappoint. Most anime figure statues tend to be in the 1/8 scale, while 1/6 is usually reserved for more popular characters. The figure is packed in a clear plastic box. The sculpt on this figure is absolutely stunning. The figure is posed having one hand on her hip, while kneeling and having her hand on a rock formation of the Eva-02 in “The Beast” form. Her pink plugsuit (where she gets later on in the film to fight the angel Zeruel, whereas in the beginning, she has a special green one for her Provisional Eva-05) is in-between being glossy and matt, which I think is the perfect balance. Being a fixed posed figure, it’s pretty much sturdy, but one area of concern is her pigtails. While they’re thinly connected to her head, as long as you don’t fiddle with them there’s no risk of breaking. Everything else is solid. A nice addition to the figure is an extra set of bangs without her glasses. Changing between sets is easy.
The special thing about this figure is that it doesn’t come with just a regular base. Her base is a rock formation shaped like her Eva-02 “The Beast” with its fierce teeth as it roars. It has one shoulder with cylinders sculpted on its left side.
Overall, this statue is just stunning. It’s a great addition to your Evangelion or anime figure collection. This sample was provided by Kotobukiya, and I thank them deeply for this amazing product.
