Kimi The Builder

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A decent start for Bandai’s first Non-Gunpla RG kit

The RG EVA-01 might be one of the most ‘interesting’ RG kits that I’ve picked up this year. Finally, after spending a lot of time with the RG EVA-01, now I could properly give you my honest, final thoughts on this, Bandai’s first non-Gundam-related RG kit.

But before we get to that, let us explore the lore on this NERV’s second massive Humanoid weapon. 

The development and history of the EVA-01 Evangelion Unit-01

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• Model name:  EVA-01
• Classification: Multipurpose Humanoid Decisive Weapon, Artificial Human
• Weapon systems: Progressive Knife, Type-99 209mm Assault Rifle, Type-00 406mm Positron Cannon, Handgun, Gattling Gun
• Height: 42.6 m
• Armour Material: Reinforced Steel
• Powerplant: Internal Battery with 5 mins worth of operation time (backup), Umbilical cord (Primary), S2 Engine (gained after EVA-01 consumed Zeruel)
• Total Thrust: None 
• Effective Sensor Radius: Unknown
• Crew: 1 pilot 

A machine created solely to protect humanity against the end of the world. 

That was NERV’s sole reason for creating the EVA’s in the first place. Although we all know by now what’s the real intention of the creation of the EVA’s, however, it is not yet our job now to discern NERV’s real intent here in today’s segment. Well, maybe we will return to that in future KTB content, but for now, let us talk about what’s the more conventional and less controversial role of the EVA-01.

Because after the Second Impact Incident, the UN realizes the urgent need to create something that would be able to defend humanity from going through another world-ending-like event like the Second Impact. 

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That is why NERV was created by the United Nations in the first place to help develop humanity’s answer to the ever-growing threat of the Angels.

Hence the creation of the EVA series. 

Out of all the EVA units developed by NERV, the EVA-01 was the only one found to be the most effective against the Angels. One of the reasons for that was because the synchronization rate for both the pilot and the EVA itself is the highest when compared to the other pilot candidates and other EVA units as well.

A high synchronization rate between the pilot and the EVA means here that the EVA-01 unit was able to be fielded effectively against any threats that it encounters during its deployment. To date, only the EVA-01 has the highest Angels kill rate amongst the rest of the existing EVA units. 

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How did the EVA-01 manage to be so lucky with its pilot selection? Well, that would be because the NERV imbued the EVA-01 with the pilot, Shinji Ikari, his mother’s soul in the EVA-01 unit. Yes, the reason why the EVA-01 had a HIGH synchronization rate with its pilot in the first place was mainly due to that.

What’s more, to help the EVA-01 unit to achieve this incredible feat, it does come equipped with a large variety of weapons and equipment designed to counter the ever-unpredictable angelic threat. Like the Type-99 203mm Assault Rifle, an assault rifle designed to counter threats from close to mid-range engagements, the progressive knife, a close-range weapon for close-range combat, and the most famous of all these, the Type-00 Positron cannon, the long-range cannon specifically to deal with the Angelic threat from long range.

Seeing all the impressive weapons designed for the EVA’s to deal with the ever-increasing Angel threats, and coupled with the high synchronization rate, it is no wonder why EVA-01 manages to have such an impressive service record.

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It’s too bad that towards the end, we’re all turned into a sludge because of it. If anyone finds my sludge, place me inside a Slurpee machine because that’s all I wanted to be now, a human Slurpee.

With that ends the history section, for now, and we will return someday to cover all of the other EVA units in the future. Which we, in turn, will cover all the detailed history of the EVA units one by one. 

For now, let us move on to the review.

The review

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I know I was a bit late coming into the review for this RG kit, and to be honest? When I was working on this review, I’ve watched alot of the reviews made from other Gunpla/plamo-reviewers on this kit. Most of them have been quite positive, and not to mention, I do agree with most of the positive points that they brought up here. 

However, the bit that I find myself not being able to be on the same page as them is on the bit where they call this one to be of the best RG kits of 2020. Because even though I do find this to be a fun little RG kit to work on, but there is something that I encounter here that I’m quite annoyed with it. 

But before we get to that, let us talk about the things that we liked here.

And the very first thing I wanted to talk about is my whole experience of building this RG kit. Because one of the things that I find that Bandai got right here is that they managed to make this RG EVA-01, a fun little RG kit to build here. 

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How is that possible, you may ask?

Well, that is because I feel like this kit is unlike any RG kits that I’ve built thus far. Although the work process is still like working on a standard RG kit, however, what makes this different from all the other RG kit that I’ve worked on is that: One, the parts are a bit bigger than your standard RG parts, which does make dealing with its nubs/sprues easier. Not to mention, because of that, I found myself spending less time looking for a part that I dropped on the floor. Because when I do drop one, I always never fail to find it on the ground, due to its size.

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Secondly, since the RG EVA-01 parts are a lot bigger than your standard RG kit, it as well meant that working on it wasn’t as challenging as all the other RG kits that I’ve built throughout the years. Which, in turn, does make me think that this is a good RG kit to introduce to someone that is thinking of working on their first RG kit.

Yes, I do think that this kit is quite a beginner-friendly RG kit.  

But with that said, that doesn’t mean that this doesn’t have bits that are not challenging. Some sections do require the builders to be cautious and not overly forceful when working on certain parts, which can be a bit tricky if you are not familiar with RG kits in general. 

However, if you do get it right, well, you will find that the result can be quite satisfying. Because the one thing that I enjoyed doing here as I complete one section of the RG EVA-01 is to spend my time to see how every single part of it works with one another. That, to me, is one of the most satisfying bits of the whole process, is that you get to see everything working as intended. 

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The other thing that we liked about this RG EVA-01 kit is its looks and its articulation. Let us first talk about the RG EVA-01’s looks because look-wise, I think that the Bandai RG EVA-01 design team managed to create one of the best looking EVA-01 kits that I’ve seen in a long time. Yes, even though I was one of those that prefer the TV-anime version over its ‘Rebuild of Evangelion’ counterpart, but even I have to admit that they managed to create one of the best-looking ‘ Rebuild of Evangelion’ EVA-01’s with the RG version. The sheer level of detail is insane from both from its inner frame to its outer armor pieces. Not to mention, this version as well comes with one of my favorite EVA-01 head gimmicks that I’ve seen in a long time. 

Why?

Well, to put it simply, it was because the level of detail seen on the EVA-01’s mouth is just insane. It looked so good that even when I compared to all the other versions of the EVA-01’s that I’ve seen, nothing beats the insane detail seen on this head unit.

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Finally, let us now talk about the last bit of the positives, the RG EVA-01’s articulation. Taking my time to articulate the RG EVA-01 into awesome action poses is probably one of the other most entertaining bits of my whole experience with this RG kit. Seriously this RG EVA-01 kit is most definitely one of the best-articulated kits that I’ve worked on in a long time.

It was so good that you can articulate it into really impressive poses without it breaking a sweat. What’s more, if you do have do get the DX version of this, the platform could work as a stand/base for you to pose the RG EVA-01 into, which is a HUGE plus! 

Why?

Well, because that means you can have the RG EVA-01 pose with it while making full use of the badass looking Umbilical cable. Not to mention it as well comes with the badass AT Field effect part.

So you might be wondering after reading all these positives, why don’t we here think that this is the best RG kit of 2020?

Well, that is because it had the ‘RG Grandpa’-ish problem. To some of our readers reading this, that does have some experience with the RG Grandpa, I feel, would understand what I go through with this RG kit. But to those that haven’t have yet experience that nightmare, well, basically, the issue is that some of the RG EVA-01 parts I find to be quite flimsy. I encounter this issue on the RG Eva-01’s head unit, shoulder armor, arm unit, and its feet unit. 

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Yes, admittedly, even though the issue is not as bad as the RG Granpa’s, since you can still solve it by glue-ing the part up, but it is still quite annoying. Because seeing how much improved the RG line-up was, you are expecting Bandai to by now, to hit the ballpark with this RG kit. 

But just like every early iteration of a new line-up, I guess facing this kind of issue is somewhat expected by now. Maybe eventually, we would see a much-improved version of the RG EVA-01 somewhere down the line. 

But for now, this is without a doubt quite a decent first non-Gunpla RG kit release, and we do look forward to seeing Bandai continue releasing new Non-Gunpla RG kits in the future. 

Quite honestly, I feel, is not what I would call ‘the best kit of 2020’. But instead, this is what I call a ‘good first-time effort kit of 2020’ RG kit.

I hope that would make a whole more sense to some of our readers here.

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Anyways, with that concludes my review of the RG EVA-01 Evangelion Unit-01 (RG). I realized that I do take quite a bit of time to write this, I admit. But during the process of working on this review, I kept finding myself having to juggle between the two extreme feelings that I had after working on this RG kit. Because of that, I had to go through a lot of re-writes up until I get to the point where I’m happy with it.

But despite all of that, I still had a lot of fun working on this review, even though it does take a bit of time to finish. 

Regardless, what do you guys think of this RG kit review after reading my thoughts on this kit and as well after reading more of my overall experience of it? We do look forward to reading and replying to all of your thoughts on this review. So don’t be shy to write on your thoughts and feelings in the comment section below. 

Anyways, we will be back again this coming Tuesday (hopefully) with more Gunpla/ Gundam merch related posts for this blog. So do look forward to that :D!

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We as well, are open to any good and bad feedback, so feel free to write away.

We hope that by sharing our love and passion for building and writing about both gunplas and plamos here, that it’ll help inspire you to keep on building or help to reignite that lost passion for the hobby.

We shall see all of you again, and we as well hope that you all here have a splendid day and week ahead! Oh as well, please do have an excellent time building your awesome gunplas there and until next time.

Ciao!