The story of Neon Genesis Evangelion begins in 2000 with the Second Impact which killed half of the human race. Now Nerv a paramilitary organization in Japan is hunting down Angels and destroying them with the help of pilots and Evangelion unites which are bio mechanical mecha's.
Asuka Langley is the second child and the pilot of Unit 02. Asuka is half German half Japanese, she is a brash egotistical girl who likes to abuse Shinji the main protagonist in the series. However her attitude is just a front to hide her insecurities and traumatic childhood.
Packaging:
Asuka comes in a standard Figma box.
On the front is a window for viewing the figure, on one side is the Figma logo, on the other is a picture of the figure, on the back there is relevant information, all in Japanese, and pictures of the figure in various poses with their various accessories. Instructions for swapping face pieces and other items are usually printed on either inside of the box tabs or on a piece of paper slipped inside the packaging. Also take note that all figures you purchase have the correct authentication printed or stickered on the box.
Inside the box the figure is held between two pieces of molded plastic, with spaces for their accessories. The extra hands and the base of the Figma stand are stored in plastic bags underneath the figure in the plastic molding. Figures are usually wrapped with plastic in certain areas to protect the paint. Boxes also come with inserts which act as backdrops in the box and can be taken out and used for backdrops while displaying figures. Asuka's backdrop is pinky orange sunset. Asuka also comes with a special cut-out to use with the Di: Stage.
Figma’s also are supplied with a small zip-lock bag to store all the accessories in, the name of the figure can be written on this bag so that figure accessories can be stored neatly. Figma’s also come with a neat little device for storing the extra hands in.
Packaging = 8/10
Stand:
Asuka comes with the standard Figma stand. Made of clear plastic it has three points of articulation which move forwards and back on hinge joints, one joint is at the bottom where it plugs into the base, one in the middle and one where it plugs into the Figma. The articulation of the stand allows the Figma to be posed in a variety of dynamic poses, and because it is clear it does not interfere with the aesthetic of taking dynamic and exciting photos.
Also since Asuka does not have the standard Figma hole in back she comes with a nice hoop attachment for her Figma stand which she clips into. She also comes with an extra Figma stand for holding her Entry Plug.
Stand = 8/10
Sculpt:
This is Asuka Langley Test Plugsuit Version.
Asuka's overall design is very sleek with a tight fitting suit with minimal features.
Starting from the top, her hair is nicely sculpted and her face looks character accurate. Part of her hair clips are made of soft PVC. On her arms and the rest of her suit are some nice detailed lines and screw heads, her torso is all one piece giving her lovely unbroken by joints feminine curves. She has nicely shaped legs and nice healed boots. One odd thing about her sculpt though is her soft PVC breasts, soft PVC as to not restrict movement, although because of this they hover above her upper body and look rather strange, from the front it is not too bad but from the side her breasts barely look like a part of her body and it is just odd. So the only complaint with figure is that her breasts look naff.
Sculpt = 8/10
Paint:
Asuka has a colour scheme of red orange and green. All her paint is shiny which makes her look very space age. Her paint work is not perfect but there are no places where paint is an eye-sore. Once again lovely painting on the faces.
Asuka's accessories are nicely painted, her entry plug is nice, the detail on her doll and cell phone is also good. So overall nice paint work, good colour scheme and nice shiny paint.
Paint = 8/10
Articulation:
Asuka use’s the standard Figma joint system. Figma joints are hinge joints with pegs on either end allowing both forward and back movement and rotation.
At the head her neck is double jointed with a Figma joint at the base of the neck and a Figma joint at the top of the neck. This allows the figure to look side to side, down and up. To change the faces on Figma’s the front piece of hair is removed and then the faces can be taken of and swapped.
The shoulder consists of a double joint, a ball joint which sits inside the upper body, this is attached to a ball shaped Figma joint which acts as the shoulder, and this allows full range of motion to the shoulder. Further down a Figma joint is used as the elbow and bends in and then out straight and there is some slight rotation for the lower arm to turn in and out. At the wrist the various hands plug into a small hole at the end of the arm. Each hand also has a hinge joint, which not only allows the hand to rotate but also to move up and down which gives the figure realistic wrist movement.
A waist joint is located under her chest. Waist joints are ball and socket joints, a ball joint will be attached to the upper body and which plug into a socket in the main torso, this gives the body twisting movement and bending forwards and back. At the hips a three jointed ball and socket joint is used. One ball plugs into a socket at the bottom of the torso acting as the hip joint; this allows the hips to turn side to side, lean forward or back, then on each of the other two ball joints the legs plug on. Each leg has an inner socket which the ball joint plugs into, this piece allows full range of motion from the ball joint and also allows the thigh to turn in and out as it pegs inside the main leg piece.
A Figma joint is then used as the knee allowing the knee to bend backwards and then out to straight, and there is some slight rotation for the lower leg to turn in and out. The ankle also is a Figma joint allowing the foot to point and flex turn in and out.
Asuka has two points of additional articulation each pony-tail has ball and socket joint allowing her hair to be moved around for added effect.
Pose:
Asuka is therefore highly posable and can be posed in a variety of ways. With the use of the accessories supplied, her entry plug, her rag doll, and her cell phone, she can be displayed in a number of poses, ready for Eva action in the entry plug pilot seat, playing with her doll, and having a worried conversation over the phone. However there are a few areas in which articulation is restricted because of her design her waist joint is up high leaving the main part of her torso stiff, which means she cannot reach some poses, however on whole her slick suit design means that no clothing restricts any of her other movements.
Articulation & Pose = 9/10
Enjoyment:
I will break down enjoyment into two categories: Accessories and Play Value.
Accessories:
Asuka comes with three facial expressions; an angry shouting expression, a cute embarrassed expression, and a content expression. Asuka also comes with an assortment of hands; a pair of open hands, a pair of relaxed hands, a pair of fists, a pair for holding the arms of her pilot seat, a pair for holding items and a hand attached to her cell phone.
Asuka also comes with her doll and of course her entry plug pilot seat. Her seat has a number of points of articulation the leg parts can move up and down and the head piece can swivel side to side, the arm pieces have three points of articulation and you can remove a back section to connect it to the Figma stand or otherwise just sit Asuka inside it without the stand. She also comes with an extra head piece with hair that is flattened at the back so that she can sit back in the pilot seat.
Play Value:
I will break down play value into two categories: Compatibility, with other figures and accessories, and general play.
Compatibility:
Askua is very compatible with other Figma accessories. All the new Figma figures come with extra hands for holding items, even if they don't have items to hold themselves, but this allows them to use a number of other Figma accessories.
Next up is a height comparison, as you can see she is on the shorter side of the Figma height scale, and is only a little taller than the Black Rock Shooter figures.
General Play:
In general Asuka is a fun figure, she looks great, has some great expressions and she is easy to pose. I recommend to any Asuka fans.
Enjoyment = 9/10
Over all Asuka Langley scores 8.3/10
