Mari Illustrious Makinami

Mari is a spunky young British brunette with glasses, and her hair is generally worn in twin-tails. She is shown to have a casual and energetic demeanour, but it hides a thoughtful, clever, and enigmatic personality. Out of all the pilots, she is the only one who admits that she genuinely enjoys piloting. Her repeated comments suggest that she has a liking to the smell of LCL. She also appears to have reduced inhibitions and even identifies Shinji as a pilot in their first encounter by crawling up to him on all fours and sniffing for the smell of LCL. It is implied that Mari works for an unknown third party. In combat, she is extremely aggressive and despite her inexperience, she is shown to be an expert pilot on the level of Asuka, if not higher. Her first engagement with the Third Angel used no tactics whatsoever but saw her attacking the Angel head-on, chasing it outside of the base and pinning it down before self-destructing. She also appears to be aware of the Evas' sentient nature to some extent, going so far as to directly addressing them in a compassionate tone and even whispering goodbye to Eva-05 after its destruction.[2]

Mari was created at the request of Toshimichi Ōtsuki, the official producer of the original anime, to introduce a new female character for the Rebuild and thus attract new audiences.[3] Anno decided not to meddle in the creation of the pilot so as not to replicate the other main characters, all based on his personality.[4] He entrusted its development to other members of Khara, more specifically Kazuya Tsurumaki.[5][6] Her conception went through a complex chain of edits and second thoughts, as neither Anno nor the others had in mind what kind of heroine to create exactly, editing and being undecided until the last minute.[7] Her character design was entrusted to Sadamoto, already character designer of the series, who in conceiving the character to differentiate her from other Evangelion protagonists[8] and taking inspiration from various sources for her design, including Space Battleship Yamato, UFO and a character played by Yui Aragaki in My Boss My Hero (2006).[9]

Mari was previously known solely among fans as "Glasses Girl" (among Japanese fans, めがねのこ, megane no ko, meaning the same thing). She sparked outrage among fans after months of teasing and her eventual reveal.[10][11] Anno gave Sadamoto and Tsurumaki initially vague settei, similar to his other attempts to distance himself from Mari's conceptualization. Her plugsuit is numbered 04 in one of her old character designs, rather than 05 as she appears in the film. Anno requested that her design be "Christian Missionary-style." Other early designs included a Victorian version of Mari, which played on English stereotypes, and her checkered skirt, which played on Scottish stereotypes. Her early association with green and use of tights were inspired by photographs of British schoolgirls that Anno brought to Sadamoto when he asked for references. He also considered giving her a long-sleeved blazer at first.[12][13] Sadamoto came to the conclusion that her glasses were a simple but effective way to distinguish herself from the other main female characters.[14] Staff considered a plugsuit in green, indigo, or yellow in the early stages of production, but then settled on pink, a popular anime color, to give her a feminine touch. Sadamoto later noticed that pink has less visual impact than the white and red models of Rei and Asuka, which is why he gave her a more "scandalous" color, so for her reveal in the green plugsuit, he opted for green, which he also associated with England, from British racing green.[12] The colorist Kikuchi Kazuko made the proposal, which Sadamoto enthusiastically accepted. Its design was inspired by the green uniforms of the Gamilas from Space Battleship Yamato, as well as some spacesuits from the TV series UFO and Soviet cosmonaut space suits. Sadamoto attempted to give her a sleeker, more modern design that would feel updated while remaining similar to the existing pilot suits. Anno decided to give it a helmet as well, to cover the face until the end of the battle and create a dramatic effect for her reveal; for the design of the helmet, Sadamoto was inspired by track cyclists, similar to Misato's motorcyclist-inspired jacket.[15]

The character received a mixed reception from critics since her first appearance. Reviewers were divided between those who found her excessively sexualized and considered her role irrelevant and insignificant[16][17][18][19] and those who praised it,[20][21][22] finding her a good alternative to the other characters.[23][24] In Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time she was deepened with some details, and this provoked attention[25][26][27] but further mixed evaluations: several critics complained about the lack of sufficient explanations about her nature, finding it underdeveloped and wasted,[28][29] while others appreciated her battle scenes,[30] her psychology and the part she played in the finale.[31][32]