Mari Makinami Illustrious Neon Genesis Evangelion - Nendoroid

The Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise is an anime series that originally aired in 1995 and quickly became a classic that many fans regard as a must-watch for any newcomer to anime. In recent years, the Rebuild of Evangelion series of films renewed interest in Evangelion and introduced new characters, locations, Evangelion Units. One of these new characters was Mari Makinami Illustrious, an Eva pilot who seems to operate separately from NERV or WILLE. Like with many other characters, after Mari's introduction in Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, a wide variety of Evangelion figures and merchandise based on her character was produced. A notable example of such merchandise would be the "Nendoroid Rebuild of Evangelion Mari Makinami Illustrious: Plugsuit Ver." from Good Smile Company's Nendoroid line of figures.

Nendoroid Rebuild of Evangelion Mari Makinami Illustrious: Plugsuit Ver.

This rendition of Mari features her wearing her Unit-08 plugsuit. This outfit is a skin-tight suit that, for Mari, is mainly colored pink around the torso while the legs are colored black. The shoulders and upper arms of the suit are white, adding a nice balance to the design of the figure. Other aspects of Mari's design are also recreated in this figure, such as her red glasses, blue interface headset, and long, brown twin tails. Like other Nendoroid figures, this set also includes extra parts and articulation to allow for a wide range of possible poses. These parts include interchangeable arms, hair parts, expression plates, a sniper rifle, and a recreation of the Unit-08 Entry Plug.

Manufacturer: Good Smile Company
Sculptor: Design COCO
Specifications: Painted, non-scale, articulated ABS and PVC figure set
Height (Approx.): 100 mm | 3.9"
Set Contents:
・Back and front hair parts
・3 face plates
・Body
・Right arm part (articulated)
・4 right hand parts
・Left arm part (articulated)
・4 left hand parts
・Right leg part (articulated)
・Left leg part (articulated)
・Sniper rifle
・Interior part

About Mari Makinami Illustrious

Mari Makinami Illustrious is one of the Evangelion pilots in the Rebuild of Evangelion and made her debut in Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance.

About Mari Makinami Illustrious: Background

In her first appearance, Mari Makinami Illustrious is shown operating with an unknown third party that acts independently from groups like NERV. Although much of her history is unknown, she is shown to have extensive knowledge of Evangelion Units and how to pilot them. Despite being quite young and inexperienced, she is capable of piloting several different Evangelion Units, most notably Unit-05 and Unit-08. Unlike the other Eva pilots like Shinji, Asuka, and Rei, Mari seems to thoroughly enjoy piloting Evangelion Units and openly expresses how she loves the smell of LCL, the fluid that floods the cockpit of an Evangelion Unit during operation. In terms of personality, Mari is generally portrayed as being a positive, albeit competitive and passionate individual when it comes to piloting.

About Mari Makinami Illustrious: Abilities

One of Mari's most notable abilities is her deep understanding of operating Evangelion Units and how they work. As first shown in Evangelion: 2.0, she is exceedingly capable as a pilot and, in further installments, shows that she may be just as skilled as Asuka. Furthermore, she seems to be able to use Unit-02's "Beast Mode", a berserk state of an Evangelion Unit that was seemingly unknown to many people at NERV. This state makes the unit considerably stronger at the expense of its more human-like characteristics. This change also reflects on the pilot as well, making Mari much more aggressive.

Other Important Evangelion Characters

Two characters from the Evangelion series that appear alongside Mari would be Shinji Ikari and Asuka Shikinami Langley.

Shinji Ikari

Shinji Ikari is the protagonist throughout the Evangelion series. At the beginning of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion, he was summoned to Tokyo-3 by his father and commander of NERV, Gendo Ikari. Here, Shinji became the pilot of Unit-01 and fought against several Angels to protect humanity. In terms of personality, Shinji often lacks self-confidence and tends to avoid emotional pain. That said, he does have a compassionate side for those he cares about. When piloting Unit-01, Shinji is generally obedient and follows the orders of others. However, at times, the stress of fighting the incomprehensible Angels becomes too much for the young boy, causing him to break down.

Asuka Shikinami Langley

Asuka Langley Shikinami (Asuka Langley Soryu in the original Neon Genesis Evangelion) is one of the main characters of the Evangelion series and the pilot of Unit-02. Unlike most other characters, Asuka is primarily German, though she is part Japanese as well. She is also an incredibly proud, stubborn, and self-confident individual. When training to become an Eva pilot, she received much praise from those around her, eventually causing her to think highly of herself when it comes to piloting. As such, she can become quite competitive with the other Eva pilots and is quick to anger when looked down upon.

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