By finally making a reference to Raideen, Anno felt, Izubuchi could 'save Buc-chan's face.' Izubuchi speculated that another character from Raideen served as inspiration for Rei and Asuka. The choice of Mari was also done as a nod to another friend of Anno, Yutaka Izubuchi, creator of RahXephon. Mid-way through productionh Anno also considered changing Mari's name yet again to Chizuru, as a homage to Chizura Nambara from Combattler V, and as a gesture to please 'Shō-chan', refering to his friend and colleague Shōji Kawamori, creator of the Macross mecha franchise. Originally, Anno considered naming her Mariko, borrowing from one of his wife Moyoco Anno's manga, but instead opted for using the name of Mari Sakurano, from Brave Raideen. Strictly speaking, neither 'Illustrious' or 'Makinami' (written as 真希波, 'noble true wave') are real surnames, although this may be nothing more than a creative liberty. The two names may be intended to, as in Asuka's case, represent a mixed heritage: here, British and Japanese (at minimum).

Mari is named after two World War II warships, the Japanese destroyer Makinami (巻波, 'overflowing waves') and the British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. This makes it unlikely that she was the one who sabotaged it, although her being an acquaintance of Ryoji Kaji is suspicious. She also appears to be aware of the Evas' sentient nature to some extent, going so far as to directly addressing them in a compassionate tone and even whispering goodbye to Eva-05 after its destruction. Her first engagement with the Third Angel used no tactics whatsoever but saw her attacking the Angel head-on, chasing it outside of the base and pinning it down before self-destructing. In combat, she is extremely aggressive and despite her inexperience, she is shown to be an expert pilot on the level of Asuka, if not higher. A pilot designation has not been provided, assuming Mari officially has one (in-universe). It is implied that Mari works for an unknown third party. She also appears to have reduced inhibitions and even identifies Shinji as a pilot in their first encounter by crawling up to him on all fours and sniffing for the smell of LCL. Her repeated comments suggest that she has a liking to the smell of LCL. Out of all the pilots, she is the only one who admits that she genuinely enjoys piloting. Mari is shown to have an enigmatic personality.

5 Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon a Time.

2 Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance.

Mari 2 song