Tag: mari

Mari… and a bit more Mari – Evangelion

Going to make this blog a twofer. These two items I got from an “Evangelion” vending machine – it wasn’t any specific series, but rather just random small Evangelion figures in gacha balls. I was going to buy some more items from it the next day when I had more change, but sadly I forgot to store the location. D’oh. 

So, first up, the Mari figure I got:

This figure wouldn’t be something I’d ordinarily buy, but once I got her out, I was like.. yep, I want this. I like the fact she has a guitar – it makes it a more interesting figure. I also like her happy expression – is almost infectious. She’s been neatly painted, and I like that her glasses have been sculpted as a separate part.

Left:

From the side she’s OK, a couple of paint flaws. The ear sculpt is rather basic and a little odd. 

Right:

The paint is neater on this side, which make it look better. I like her pigtails. 

Back:

Yep. Pretty plain back here. Not much to this view. Guess you could admire her pigtails? 

Overall she’s good for a gacha ball, even if she wasn’t officially a gacha figure XD. 

And now for the other Mari, a keychain:

I already had the Rei version of this keychain, so this one can match with it. 

Other views:

She’s an OK little keychain. The paint is decently done, and the sculpting is good. As I’m not a big Mari fan, she won’t be up front and centre in my collection, but she passes muster to be part of my keychain collection.

Mari Illustrious Makinami – Evangelion – Wave – Plugsuit ver.

There were many Maris to choose from, and I decided to go with this one:

I went with this one, as Wave figures tend to be better than prize figures and not too expensive. Also they’re not too big, which is a bonus when to use haven’t got infinite room. Out of the box, I am really pleased with this one – she is well-painted and sculpted, and the finish is really nice. She has a pretty basic stand, but I’m not too bothered by that.

I like the shininess of her plugsuit, and her expression fits her seriousness. The glasses are also well done.

Left:

Looking closely at the lines on her legs, they’re not perfect, but do the job. There is also a bit of a ridge where her legs connect to her body, where you can see the blue parts have been made to compensate for this. The side of her head looks good, though I think I’d prefer if her hair learned on her body, rather than stick out like it does. She doesn’t have much movement in her pose, so it makes it look a little odd to me.

Right:

Not too much different from the other side. Her headband paint is a bit better on this side, and her hair looks less odd, as it doesn’t look like it is floating of its own accord. The different coloured parts of the suit are well defined.

Back:

A little sneaky gold bit! Funny what I notice when writing these blogs. Her hands look good and are well posed. Ridges where her legs join her body could’ve done with some tidying up. Her backpack looks good, and her hair makes more sense from this angle. Her hair is a soft rubbery plastic, so not too much chance of breaking it. There is some sculpting on the upper part of her hair, stopping it from being totally plain, which is nice.

Overall, I think this is a decent Mari figure, and a cut above a prize figure. However, the joins could have done with some work to make them less severe. If you can pick this one up at a reasonable price, and happy with a smaller figure, I’d recommend it.

Mari Makinami Illustrious – Figma

With Rei on order, I decided to buy Mari too, as she’s the cheapest of the three, poor Mari. 

I deceided to go with her screaming face, and left her with the red cuffs/light. There are green pieces for her wrists and chest light, if you want her in ‘berzerker’ mode. 

Front of Mari:

Looks almost if her eyes are closed on this photo, but they’re not. 

Close-up of her face:

Her chest piece sadly looks a little odd, if it isn’t straight. I half-wonder if they’d have been better off without this articulation, or had more of her on her upper half, so she doesn’t look… kind of robot-ish when her upper half is rotated. Those pointy chest pieces don’t help, lol. Rei is articulated in the same way, but with the consistency of colour and roundness, it looks a lot less odd. 

Sides:

Looks fine, pretty much the same as Rei. Only Mari. She was a bit easier in the leg department to pose properly in the char, but not sure there’s any actual reason behind that. 

Back:

Yep, still nowt to see here 😛 If it wasn’t for the arms poking out, you wouldn’t be able to tell if it was Rei’s or Mari’s chair. 

Closeup of the controls:

Quite a large joint joins the handle to the the arm. Not sure it goes within the theme, but I’m not too bothered about it. These are identical to Rei’s. 

Overall, I’m happy with Mari, but I’m pretty sure that chest joint helped dent the figure’s popularity. If you’re not after doing a whole bunch of poses with her, she works as a display piece. This coupled with Mari’s seeming lack of priority, these one is pretty cheap to pick up, so if you like what you see, I’d recommend it. 

Mari Makinami Illustrious – Seat of Soul

And to complete the Seat of Soul set, we have Mari. As I bought the second Rei, I thought I might as well get Mari too. So I did:

She is also well-crafted, like the others in this set. 

View from the front:

I love the fact they’ve chosen a different pose from the others, where she has her leg curled up, as it helps give variety to the set. 

Mari’s back:

Not the most exciting view, but her hair is nicely done. Arm seam is a lot more visible here, but being a plugsit, it kind of gets away with it.

Back of the chair:

Yep, still nowt to see here.

Top:

Nicely sculpted and painted. One nice thing of her having a headband is you don’t get the hair seam you get on a lot of figures. She sits nicely in the chair, and doesn’t feel at threat of falling out. 

Glad I got this one to complete the set 🙂