Neon Genesis Evangelion was the first series to truly push me into anime, and so it’s probably no surprise that Rei Ayanami is among my favourite characters in the medium. I bumped into this statue during the London MCM Expo in May this year, and it didn’t take much for me to make the impulse purchase. This 1/12 scale statue is based on a 2003 resin kit which was sculpted by Tsukuru Shirahige and manufactured by Kotobukiya. As Rei is on a BMX, the height comes in at 15cm and the whole statue is pre-painted PVC.

WIN

• Rei’s BMX steals the spotlight from the young Evangelion pilot thanks to the excellent detail from the frame to the wheels. It’s not just the detail on the bike, but the fact that Rei’s pulling off a trick with it which really makes this statue stand out from anything else I currently own.
• Every statue should come with a good display base, not just some plain black/white/transparent thing that looks like it was slapped on as an afterthought. Rei’s rocking out on tile pavement to give you the impression she’s somewhere outdoors, people don’t do tricks like that in their living rooms after all.
• So why am I impressed with the BMX and base details? It’s not as if this is the only detailed statue of Rei Ayanami available. It’s the price tag of course, I picked this up for £20.00 and for that price the attention to detail is quite satisfactory. Not incredible by any means, but it’s ‘bang for your buck’ as an American may have put it.

FAIL

• Easily my biggest gripe with this statue is the seam going right across the top of Rei’s head. This doesn’t seem to exist in the original resin kit that spurred the PVC statue. If there was one thing that made me think twice about the purchase, it was this issue but the good outweighs the bad in this case so I went for it regardless. Some may not be as forgiving however, so check the gallery to see how bad you think it looks.
• I look up the skirts of my statues, and I’m sure every other male otaku out there has done it at least once. I was a bit surprised to find a bit of thin plastic underneath Rei’s skirt that seemed to be attached to it pretty firmly. I have no idea why it’s there but I could not pull it out. I’ve decided to just leave it alone as it’s not noticeable unless you blatantly turn the statue upside down and stare right at her panties, which isn’t something my guests will try doing when complimenting me on my figures. At least I hope not, anyway.

Most of the time when I see a cool statue that’s actually interesting enough to warrant a purchase, it’s a pretty pricey one which is actually the main reason I’ve only recently started taking a real interest in collecting such things. As I mentioned, Rei stands out because of the statue’s unique pose, not to mention an orange BMX is quite hard to miss. Aside from the seam on Rei’s head, I really think this statue is a bargain for any Evangelion fan looking to pick up a good quality statue without spending too much. Even if you’re not familiar with the series, the statue looks good enough on its own merits.

Rei Ayanami BMX Trick Version is produced by Tsukuru Shirahige and manufactured by Kotobukiya. It was first released in June 2007 and is unfortunately sold out on most online retailers at the time. I was able to pick it up in May during the London MCM Expo ’09. Though this is my first Evangelion statue, I have a growing collection of videogame and anime figurines.