Yoko Taro is currently cooking up a new Evangelion anime series, but it's likely going to be a good while until I get a glimpse of how the Nier: Automata creator handles my favorite mech pilots, Askua and Rei. At least in the interim, brands like MelGeek have found ways to satiate my Eva-needs, as pre-orders for their new Centauri60 Asuka Edition HE gaming keyboard have just dropped.
This board is available for a hefty $359 (MalGeek) price tag straight from the MalGeek website and is expected to ship starting August 15, later this month. It's definitely an expensive release, as its price tops even that of our best gaming keyboard pick. You could even pick up a massively detailed figure of Asuka for its MSRP, but when past Eva keyboards are reaching higher price points on the second-hand market, $249 for an officially licensed board is starting to look quite good.
Picking up this keyboard will provide you with not just the board, but an exclusive envelope, a USB cable, a switch Puller, x7 extra keycaps, and a Nano-Tech keyboard case.
Evangelion gaming keyboards are already a thing that exists. Asus ROG previously dropped the ROG Strix Scope RX EVA-02 Edition Gaming Keyboard, which included a stunning red board with an Alloy top cover and a range of perfectly on-brand keycaps sitting across the brand's RX Optical Mechanical Switches. It's a board I still covet to this day, but it's difficult to find in stock unless you're comfortable spending upwards of $400 on eBay right now.
That eye-watering second-hand price puts MalGeek's $359 version into perspective. This take on an official Asuka-inspired keyboard instead utilizes Hall-Effect magnetic switches like the best Hall effect keyboards onto a 66-key ANSI layout. It's a wired board, so there's no 2.4GHz wireless to take advantage of, however, you've got 8,000Hz USB polling, 8,000Hz scanning, 0.125ms listed latency, rapid Trigger, Snap Tap, adjustable actuation, and a precision knob which you can map to control the volume, media, macros, or lighting via the brand's HIVE Driver software.
The most important bit, at least for me anyway, is the design of this fantastic anime-inspired accessory. I can only imagine that using this keyboard must feel like piloting Asuka's EVA-02 mech, as it shares the same bright and vivid red, orange, and black color palette. My favorite aspect is the transparency of the keys, which feels reminiscent of the gaming tech of the late '90s and early '00s. I was watching Evangelion for the first time around then, so the callback feels entirely apt, even if MalGeek didn't have my nostalgia in mind in the design process.
If you're more of a Rei fan, MalGeek has you covered. You can also pre-order the Centauri80 Rei Edition HE Gaming Keyboard for $459 at MalGeek, and it's not a simple re-skin either. The Rei board, which is expected to start shipping on August 15, is based on the brand's larger Centauri80 layout with 83 keys in total. The keyboard also includes unique features like a 1.78-inch OLED touchscreen with 368 x 448 resolution and a 325 PPI display, which is missing from the Asuka release.
The biggest and most obvious difference comes down to its design, which the brand states feels "calmer and more controlled" with its blue, white, and silver transparent keys. Really, they resemble Rei's iconic cool blue hair and her white pilot suit, which is fitting as the Centauri60 Asuka Edition HE gaming keyboard is mimicking Asuka's suit too. (Which in turn match their EVA units.)
While both keyboards have prices attached that are bound to have many an Evangelion sit head in hands with despair like Shinji, there is another way. Razer announced an Evangelion collab of its own, which includes a Razer Blackwidow V4 TKL Hyperspeed EVA-02 Edition keyboard, which you can sign up to be notified about on the official Razer website. It bears a striking resemblance to all Asuka-themed accessories before it (there are only so many ways you can do an Asuka keyboard) and is likely to cost around a more reasonable $199.99 if past collaborations are anything to go by.
In the time it took me to yap on about this stunning keyboard, it's looking like the Centauri60 Asuka Edition He could be out of stock. I recommend jumping on the Rei release if you want to avoid any disappointment. Get the keyboard in your basket, Shinji!
- View all anime gaming accessories at Amazon
Our team has also rounded up the best gaming chairs, the best gaming laptops, and the best gaming mice, if you want to give your PC gaming setup a boost.
