RGRebuild of Evangelion

Evangelion Unit-00 (Proto Type)

Rei's prototype EVA gets the same organic-frame treatment as Unit-01, with a tidier seven-hand loadout.

MechaGrade Score

3.8/5

Evangelion Unit-00 · non-scale · 2021

GradeRG

Scalenon-scale

Released2021

Runnersn/a

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

As the second Real Grade Evangelion Bandai released, this kit refines what Unit-01 started rather than reinventing it.

The spine and shoulder joints do the same work translating Eva's musculature into posability, and seven interchangeable hand parts give it more expressive range than the debut kit managed. It plays well with the wider RG Eva ecosystem too, since parts from an earlier Evangelion tie-in kit are compatible, but it is still a small, non-scale kit and the accessory loadout, while improved, is not the biggest in the line.

Best for: RG builders assembling the Rebuild Evangelion roster who want Rei's Proto Type Unit-00 with a fuller hand-pose set than the line's debut kit

The full review

What it is

This is the second Real Grade Evangelion Bandai put out, covering the orange Proto Type Unit-00 that is traditionally Rei Ayanami's assigned machine across both the original series and the Rebuild films. Like Unit-01 before it, the frame is jointed through the spine and shoulders rather than relying on Gundam-style hinges, so the same overlapping, muscular posability carries over. Bandai also built in compatibility with parts from an earlier Evangelion tie-in kit release, a nice bit of cross-kit thinking for anyone building multiple Eva units side by side.

The catch

Seven interchangeable hand parts and two Progressive Knives are a real step up from the six hands the debut Unit-01 kit shipped with, but this is still one of the earlier, leaner RG Eva releases next to what came after, no thunder spear or the fifteen-hand set later kits like Unit-02 picked up. It is non-scale like the rest of the RG Eva line rather than a fixed scale figure, so it sits smaller than its RG Gundam cousins, and the thin, organic proportions mean the joints want careful handling rather than rough posing.

Who it's for

If you are building the Rebuild Evangelion cast in Real Grade and want Rei's Proto Type Unit-00 specifically, or you like the idea of a kit that shares parts with an earlier Evangelion tie-in release, this is a solid, well-integrated pick. If your priority is the single most loaded RG Eva kit on the shelf, a later release with a bigger accessory set will serve that goal better, this one is about refinement over volume.

The build story

What the build is actually like, and the engineering worth knowing about.

The build follows the format Unit-01 established, overlapping armor sections over a spine-and-shoulder-jointed frame, so cleanup and assembly feel familiar if you have built the debut RG Eva kit already. The seven hand parts are the highlight here, giving a wider range of grip and gesture poses than the earlier kit's six.

Compatibility with parts from an earlier Evangelion tie-in kit line is a genuinely useful engineering choice for anyone stacking multiple Eva units on a shelf together. The loadout itself stays modest, two Progressive Knives and a Pallet rifle, refined rather than expanded compared to what followed it in the line.

Lore & trivia

01RG Unit-00 (Proto Type) was the second Evangelion kit in Bandai's Real Grade line, following Unit-01 into release in 2020 or 2021 depending on the source, with a listed factory release date of June 2020.
02Unit-00 is traditionally the prototype Evangelion and Rei Ayanami's assigned unit across both the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series and the Rebuild films.
03The kit is built with parts compatibility for one of Bandai's earlier Evangelion tie-in model kit releases.