Mari Illustrious Makinami Unit-08 Pilot (Eva Unit-08)
Mari Illustrious Makanami is a character who first appears in the second Rebuild film, Evangelion: 2.0 (You Cannot Advance) . She does not appear in the original series , and many aspects of her character are unknown. She is capable of piloting Evangelion units with incredible skill. While most pilots eventually come to resent the act of piloting, Mari seems to find the act of piloting an Eva unit incredibly enjoyable. While not fully explained, it is believed that Mari is part of a third party that is not affiliated with either NERV or SEELE but has a deep understanding of the inner workings of Evangelion units. In the original Japanese dub, Mari is voiced by Maaya Sakamoto, while the English dub cast Trina Nishimura.
Character and personality
Mari, like most Eva pilots , is around 14 or 15 years old, though her precise age is not given. She wears glasses with a red rim and has long reddish-brown hair pulled back in two ponytails. Even when not piloting an Eva unit, she wears a headband that appears to incorporate the helmet needed to control a unit, though whether this is functional or simply her preferred aesthetic is not explicitly stated. While she is first seen in an intricately designed plug-suit colored green, she often wears a jumpsuit colored a combination of pink, white, and black. Mari is also capable of piloting two different Eva units: Eva-05 and Eva-08 . In the original series , this might be considered impossible for most people; however, the methods and underlying mechanisms used to create and operate Evangelion units are different between the television series and the Rebuild films, as they are two different continuities.
In some ways, Mari's personality is somewhat similar to Asuka Langley's Shikinami in that she is a fairly energetic individual and generally confident in her piloting abilities. However, rather than being proud of her abilities and seeking recognition for them like Asuka, Mari seems to pilot her Evangelion units simply because she enjoys the act of piloting itself. Calling her an "Eva enthusiast" may be an accurate description of her character as a whole. When she crashes into the protagonist Shinji , she immediately deduces that he is a pilot as he smells of LCL, the fluid used to flood a pilot's inlet cap before the unit is activated. She also displays a deep understanding of Evangelion units that matches or even exceeds that of NERV, as she activates Evangelion Unit 02's "beast mode," which appears to be the ability to control a unit while it goes berserk. NERV seemed to be unaware of this ability. Evangelion: 2.0 You Can't (Advance) Mari isn't afraid to step up and attack her target head-on, however, in Evangelion: 3.0 You Can't Do It Again , she appears to play a supporting role to Asuka, mostly firing from long range with a rifle. Even in the dire conditions of the third film, Mari's character remains largely unchanged. Occasionally, she is seen singing amidst the battle preparations of her unit, Evangelion Unit 08 , though this seems to draw Asuka's ire.
Notable relationships with other characters
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Shinji Ikari : The main protagonist throughout both Neon Genesis Evangelion , the Rebuild films, and many other entries in the Evangelion franchise. While their interactions are relatively short, they showcase the more unusual side of Mari's character. For example, when she bumps into Shinji, she begins sniffing him and notices that he smells of LCL. Then, as quickly as she arrives, she runs away, calling Shinji "NERV's little puppy" and telling him to keep his sudden appearance a secret from everyone.
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Asuka Langley's Shikinami : The pilot assigned to Evangelion Unit 02 who often works with Mari. These two seem to have a playful rivalry together, calling each other names like "four eyes" and "princess" in the middle of battle. That said, they work incredibly well together and can easily understand each other's actions and support each other accordingly.
Other appearances
In addition to her appearances in the Evangelion Rebuild film series, Mari also made an appearance in the official Evangelion manga in an additional chapter. She was introduced as Yui's classmate and school rival, Shinji Ikari's mother, with a brief backstory about their shared past. This story reportedly shows that her age would not match Mari's in the Rebuild films, and creator Yoshiyuki Sadamoto says the chapter was just purely for "fun."
Character Creation
Introducing Mari into the story and characters of the Evangelion franchise was not an easy decision. Evangelion creator Hideaki Akiyama and Evangelion Rebuild director Kazuya Tsurumaki had many disagreements over how they should portray the character. Originally, Mari was only supposed to play a very small role. There was also talk of integrating her further into the story and playing the role of Asuka's rival who would eventually take control of Evangelion Unit 02.
