Review-tech: Makinami Mari Illustrious Fraulein

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If you follow the child-pool depth continuity of this blog, Loran’s off at Otakon this weekend. I like video games, drinking and not dealing with a city where “The Wire” took place, so I’m home this weekend, posting an additional article. But we’re not talking Gunpla today, or even Gundam. Instead, we’re going to focus on the overlooked import toy section of Forbidden Planet NYC! I’m hoping to turn this into a new feature on the blog, as man, I love me some Revoltechs.

Revoltechs, as some of you may or may not know, are the Japanese equivalent of Marvel Legends/DC Universe Classic line, only Revoltechs aren’t limited to just one brand. You’ll find properties such as Street Fighter, Sengoku Basara, Gurren Lagann, Trigun amongst dozens of others represented in the 100 figures produced, including some American properties such as Batman Begins, Jurassic Park and Aliens. Today I’ll be focusing on one of the newer figures from the Fraulein: Makinami Mari Illustrious ...
... from the 2nd Neon Genesis Evangelion remake movie.

Yes, she has a pink plugsuit. Japan’s empowering to females like that. SARCASM!

Series Origin: Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (Which speaking of Eva and Otakon, 2.0 was licensed by FUNimation yesterday).

Legacy: Mari’s been around for all of the year, but if merchandising and cosplay photos have proven anything, she’s pretty popular.

Appearance and Equipment:

DAWWW, LOOK SHE’S WAVING AT US, ISN’T SHE SUCH A CUTIE….yeah, I’ll be honest, I felt just a wee bit creepy taking some of these photos. Real glad the wife’s not home this weekend to see that “photoshoot”…

Anywho, the figure is a spot on replication of Mari. The female sculpt in the Fraulien line has improved greatly over the year, as they look a lot less soulless little dolls.

And now Mari will show us what she’s packaged with in terms of accessories, because she’s a helpful little angel like that!

This photo helps illustrate that Mari is fairly articulated, and comes with a ton of stuff. There’s at least 5 different pair of hands, 2 different faces, a stand, and handy little box you can use for storage and a cellphone…

NO PHOTOS PLEASE, SHE’S CLEARLY ON THIS PHONE. Also, despite feeling like a complete creepward, I had a blast taking some of these photos. As you can see, I swapped out her face, going from the content one to the slightly irate one. The 3rd one is my favorite one though…

This is her Berserker face. It is both terrifying and/or hilarious depending on your stance. And again, all of those spare pieces fit into that handy little accessory cube.

ALL HAIL THE MARI-CUBE!

Construction: In addition to improved sculpts, the articulation and built of the Fraulein are better as well. The initial Eva Frauleins a few years back are prone to falling apart like crazy, something that Mari does not suffer from. Her articulation wasn’t sacrificed as a result of an improved built, as seen in Mari’s ponytail.

She is less than impressed than this function. Hush you.

Overall Opinion:

Call me bias, but I’m biased and I love me some Mari. It’s a tad pricey ($40-45), but it’s a great figure that has a great sculpt, crazy articulation, and whole bunch of spare parts. I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of the Eva Rebuild figures, but there’s 2 things to keep in mind. Another Mari Revoltech in her original plugsuit coming out later this year, as well as a Figma (another highly articulated Japanese toy line) version of Mari coming out this fall with a cockpit she can sit in. Chances are I’ll buy all 3.