Kimi The Builder

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Get into the EVA, Kimi!

After spending week after week on working on different grades and scales of Gunplas, I was craving for something that is a tad bit different, something that is not particularly Gunpla related but yet still a Bandai release Mecha plamo. So, seeing that we finally have the first non-Gunpla RG, the RG Eva-01 restocked in at our favorite Gunpla stores recently (well to be more precise I got it last week, haha). I decided to get that awesome kit instead of the much newer RG Impulse.   

I originally planned to do this Unboxing much much earlier, but due to some work-related delays, I decided to push it to this week instead.

So without further ado, let us get into it, shall we? 

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Release Date: Mid March 2020

Retail price: MYR RM 189.00* (USD $44.18* / EUR €39.53*)

*The price is subject to change, depending on the situation

Well, to be honest with you all here, besides the reason that I just gave earlier there is another good reason for me wanting to get the RG Eva-01, and that is because I just recently finished rewatching the Neon Genesis Evangelion series.  

But funnily enough, I didn’t give the Rebirth version a Rewatch, instead, I finished rewatching all the original TV series in Netflix recently, heck I even went as far as to rewatch both the Death & Rebirth of Evangelion movies there. 

But after I finished rewatching all of that, one thing that I realized that was reignited within me after all these years is my hate for Shinji as a character.

However, admittedly I’m not writing a review or a hot take of a critically acclaimed 90s anime series here. But what I’m writing here instead is just an Unboxing and First Impressions post of a kit from that particular anime, that’s all. 

So you might be wondering why I started the Unboxing post with that? Well, the reason for that is the other thing that was reignited within me (besides the raging Shinji hate) was the admiration that I have with the Eva-01 design. 

Because even though it was painful to see Shinji in the show, but at the very least all the action scenes which involves the main Mech, the Eva-01 wasn’t at all disappointing even after rewatching it again all these years.

That is why, after going through the long Evangelion binge, I decided to get the RG Eva-01. Well, originally I planned to get the RG Eva-01 with the Transport Platform version, however, since my budget was a bit tight for this particular month I decided to go with the regular version instead.

But alas I was glad that I still manage to snag one regardless.

But admittedly I do notice that both this and the DX Version (the version with the Transport set) does have a boxart that really stands out amongst the other RG releases that I’ve seen. This is quite an impressive feat considering that the RG Eva-01 boxart concept doesn’t stray away from the RG’s original concept. 

But it is thanks to the awesome CG illustration by Yuka Otani of the Eva-01 head unit (for both versions), which highlighted many of the awesome details of the Eva-01’s Head unit well here. Which does in turn, I feel, help to sell the idea of getting the kit to a lot of builders (me included) when one browsing along in the store shelves. 

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I’m as well a huge fan of how the CG illustration of how the full RG Eva-01 kit would look completed, looked. I think the illustrator did an excellent job in making people which are both fans of the series and those that are not fans of the series interested in the RG version.  

What’s more, I as well find that RG Eva-01’s box packaging side section is a joy to go through here. Because there is a lot of really useful information that you can learn about the RG Eva-01 before making that purchase. Plus when coupled with the awesome promotional pictures and poses of the RG Eva-01 that was used here, we here can’t imagine anyone looking at this and not wanting to get it.

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Another interesting thing I noticed with the RG Eva-01’s packaging here is its box packaging. That is because I assumed that since I’m getting the normal version, I thought that the RG Eva-01 packaging would be more like what we get with a normal cheap RG kit. So quite frankly I was quite shocked to see that the box packaging of the RG Eva-01 to be quite similar to the RG Sinanju’s type of thick box packaging. 

But then again, when we take a closer look at the RG Eva-01’s price point it does make sense. Because RG kits that are sold at this price point are usually kits that come with a lot of parts, just like the RG Sinanju. 

So, yes as soon as I unboxed it, I do find that to be the case here. But before we move on to me talking about the ‘meat’ the unboxing, I do want to mention another little thing that I noticed about this particular RG release’s packaging.

That, unlike its other RG Gunpla releases, the RG Eva-01 doesn’t come with a black inner box. Which I admit was something that I was quite disappointed with, since it would be nice to see Bandai make a small acknowledgment section (just like they did with all the RG Gunplas) of all the previous HGLM Eva-01 releases and the PG Eva-01 series. 

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Regardless, I somehow found myself not minding that as much, as soon as I take a look at all the parts and runners this kit comes with. Because man, this kit does come with a lot of really colorful and good looking parts.

It is insanely hard to not fall in love with some of the moldings of some of the RG Eva-01’s parts and not to mention too Bandai as well did a damn good job with the RG Eva-01 color scheme here.

From what we are seeing here, it does seem to me like they are applying all the things that they’ve learned with the newer RG kit and applying it to the fullest extend here, with the RG Eva-0. I admit after seeing how good all the parts looked, it does make me look forward to the day that I finally get my hands working on this RG kit. 

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Even the RG Eva-01 manual is a joy to go through here. Even though they still keep the mixed translated lore concept, it still manages to be a joy to go through, and I as well noticed that they made some changes to the instruction manuals building guides by enlarging some of the visuals up. This particular change made to the visuals does make life easier for those (me included) that consistently struggle with previously very small RG building instruction manual’s building guides.

But it was the small aesthetic additions here and there is what made us love browsing through the RG Eva-01’s manual. Because man, as we take a long hard look at it, we cannot help to feel like we are looking at an actual NERV’s Eva-01 construction guide. It was that good!

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It’s an addition that we appreciate Bandai for taking the time to add into the manual and we do hope that we would see Bandai do the same with their future RG Gunpla releases.

To summerise my experience Unboxing of the RG Eva-01 is that I would say that my unboxing experience of the RG Eva-01 has been quite an exciting experience overall, and even from my short time with it, I already have a strong feeling that this is going to be a fun build. However since this is the first Non-Gunpla RG release that we have gotten, so I will refrain from making any recommendations at this stage. 

But I really can’t help to feel like this is going to be something that I will find to have a lot of fun building.

With that ends this week’s Unboxing and First Impressions segment for the RG Eva-01 Evangelion Unit-01 (RG). What do you think of this particular RG kit that I just unboxed? Do you yourselves have the same experience as I did unboxing this RG kit? To be frank, I’m honestly quite excited to start work on this one. It is alot different then what I’m accustomed to and I do sincerely hope that this kit is one of those kits that is both good to look at and fun to build as well. 

Anyways, we will be back again this week with more new gunpla related posts in this coming Thursday and Saturday! Do look forward to those upcoming posts as well! 😀 

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We hope by sharing our love and passion for gunplas here, it’ll inspire you to pick up the hobby or reignite your love for gunpla!

Anyways, we shall see all of you again next week, and we hope that you all have an awesome week and weekend ahead! Have an awesome time building your awesome gunplas and until next time!

Ciao!