I didnt like 3.0 either. But the more I watched it, the more I started to understand what's going on. Which is what Anno always intended about Evangelion. It made to be watched over and over. I still don't like it as much as 2.0 though.Mari is... yeah, you hit the nail on the head. She is just there for lesbian porn with Asuka and to sell figures. However the real thing that bugs me about 3.0 is Unit-13. I mean... what the hell is that thing and why does it matter? Who cares if it awakens? What's so special about that? It's not like it's Unit-01. Which, till this movie, was pretty much all that mattered to NERV and SEELE. Shinji was just like of useful for it, but they were always concerned about keeping it safe. Like... seeing Unit-13 awake was like "This would be a bigger deal, if it had been around since day one." Unit-01 means something to us and Unit-13 is... meh. =/Anyways, I am rambling. I love talking about Evangelion. It's my favourite thing ever. I even named my 4 year old daughter after Rei. lol But yeah... great cosplay.