Rei Ayanami
Thomas Zoth (Mania.com) wrote, "Rei Ayanami proved such a popular character that she started a merchandising boom". Her image was used in a wide range of products, including toys, t-shirts, action figures, musical instruments, life-size statues, makeup, accessories and reproductions of her clothing. On March 30, 2001, King Records launched an album entitled "Evangelion: The Birthday of Rei Ayanami". In 2012, a team built an tall figure of the character outside of the NTV Tower in the Shiodome area of Tokyo as part of the Shiohaku Expo 2012 summer amusement event. The following year, a reproduction of the girl's bedroom was built, and a life-size model was exhibited at the Eva Expo in Shanghai. In 2020, Honda used Rei and other characters from the series for a number of commercials, which aired on the occasion of a collaboration between "Evangelion" and Honda Civic.