GX-22 Evangelion

“Cool.” I said that about 3 times as I was freeing the shiny, silver figure from its Styrofoam compartment. Evangelion Unit 04 had a good weighty feel to it and was cold to the touch, like an instrument of war. And like an instrument of war, it was strangely grotesque, yet utterly beautiful. I couldn’t help but admire it. Eva 04 looked right back at me, its mouth hanging open with a sinister snarl. Bandai has done it again, by putting a unique twist on something familiar and making another must-own piece for toy collectors.

Those who already own the sleek metallic-black Eva 03 or any of the other Evas, will know what to expect from the Eva 04 figure itself. Other than color, this is the EXACT same figure as Eva 03, down to the head mould, with the same high level of poseability and quality. With numerous points of articulation throughout the entire figure, you can see what wonderful poses can be achieved with this figure.

The Eva 04 is strikingly shiny, shinier than even the reflective GX-06M Getter Robo. Its polished silver surface just gleams, and is its biggest gimmick. Punctuated with small eye-catching splashes of red, purple, and black, it is pure eye candy that you will never tire of admiring.

The figure also comes with the following accessories:

• 2 sets of purple hands that pop off and snap back on with ease,
• 2 sets of silver chrome-plated shoulder armor, one set for looks, one set that has a needle-gun gimmick, and a compartment to store the Progressive Knife,
• 3 Entry Plug ‘missiles’ which fit in the back of the Eva’s neck that can fire out with the press of a switch,
• Requisite Pallet Rifle with carrying case that can be mounted to the shoulder armor (all Evas have this),
• Requisite Progressive Knife (again, all Evas have this),
• Bazooka (Small Type, held like a rifle),
• Positron Rifle (a bulky but sure to be devastating weapon which borrows its design from the crimson Eva’s Positron Rifle and yellow Eva’s Sniper Rifle),
• Display stand.

There really isn’t a lot to pick about this piece. For me, the biggest disappointment was the weak selection of weapons it came with. With hardly any melee weapons and its bulky guns, this is arguably the worst equipped Eva ever. Of course, we never see this Eva pick up a weapon in the anime (or even ever appear for that matter), but it still would have been nice to see a shotgun or even a sword. Other very minor gripes include the plastic silver head (not shiny, but still okay) and the rather generic display stand, which was really neat the first time around with Eva Unit 01, but not now for the sixth time. Finally, it is yet another Eva with a different color scheme and weapon arsenal. There’s nothing too original or innovative here.

Still, without a doubt, Eva 04, with its shiny splendor, is really a treasure worth owning, despite being slightly more expensive than the other Evas. It is a snarling, beautiful, piece of art that can stand on its own, or together with its fellow Evas. Who needs gold (or purple, red, blue, yellow, and black) when you’ve got cool silver?

Evangelion Unit 04 was released March 2004 for ¥6825