Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 (Sports Lessons Swimming Version)

BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review

I sometimes give my figures informal nicknames, particularly if I have multiple versions of a particular character. I’ve got E.T. Miku, transvestite Yoko, gangsta lean Saber (review pending for over a year), and now I have this figure, which I’ve taken to calling fat Tamaki. It’s not a very charitable nickname and its accuracy is questionable as well, but the main thing is I had planned to cancel this figure. Unfortunately for me, Hobby Search revised their cancellation policy while I wasn’t paying attention and so I was stuck with my order. I guess I could’ve simply refrained from paying; I don’t think Hobby Search would have carried out any reprisals against me, since I’ve purchased the equivalent of an economy automobile from them these last couple of years. However, I did appreciate some aspects of this figure and now that I have her, there are some things I like about Tamaki, and some things I don’t, which is better than how I expected to feel.

BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review

This version of Tamaki is manufactured by BEAT and is sculpted in 1/6 scale, standing about 23 centimeters tall. She comes with a small heart-shaped base that attaches to her right foot and a plastic pool chair that she can kneel on. Unfortunately, her weight is very much shifted towards her left side and as such she doesn’t balance on the chair all that well; I stuffed a small piece of rolled-up cloth under her shin to keep her from leaning to her left. Also unfortunate is that the little base attached to her foot doesn’t stay in all that well, though that’s much less of a problem when she’s on a shelf than when you’re picking her up to photograph her.

BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review

There are about a billion Tamaki figures scheduled for release this year, but at least quite a few of them do have an obvious distinctive element. FREEing’s one is a huge 1/4 scale, Daiki Kougyou’s has her washing off her tit, Volks’s one has her prancing around in utterly bizarre body armor. And then I guess there are a bunch of forgettable Kaitendoh and Alphamax ones. This one has a couple of interesting aspects: her size, as she is quite a large figure, and her size, as she packs colossal breasts and a big ass. Tamaki is one of those formless, malleable characters whose body language and shape gets molded to match the sculptor’s fantasies. In her upcoming fighting game appearance, she looks like a normal anime girl with rather reserved breasts. Her Max Factory rendition gave her enormous breasts but a relatively normal body shape otherwise. BEAT’s version gives her a much plumper look, with broad hips, thick thighs, and breasts spilling out of her tight one-piece.

BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review

Some people only like big breasts, some people only like small breasts, some people only like no breasts. I don’t have a favored anime girl body shape; the figures in my collection span the gamut from loli girls to grown women with huge breasts. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people did not like this version of Tamaki, but me, I think her body shape looks great. Her curves are prominent and her tits and ass are majestic. Also, there have been many figures with oversized breasts and buttocks but a number of them have huge bodies and undersized heads; Orchid Seed’s Al Azif and upcoming Arshes Nei are examples of that, as is pretty much every Cattleya figure ever made. That’s not something I find to be attractive, so I’m happy that Tamaki’s got a normal-sized head here.

BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review

I also very much like her swimsuit. The navy color is attractive and I particularly like its high-cut legs. I see a lot of figures in swimsuits with low-leg cuts, which I don’t find nearly as appealing. Tamaki’s suit shows off a lot of her hips and looks great.

BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review

Her face looks decent from a distance. She’s got a pleasant smile, and that’s the reason I bought this one instead of the version with the white suit. It’s certainly not the prettiest Tamaki I’ve ever seen, and her face starts looking stranger the closer you get to her. Close up, you start wondering where her nose went, and you notice her face looks really flat. Still, from a normal viewing distance, it’s okay. Mediocre, I’d call it, but not as bad as it could have been.

BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review

Tamaki is pulling her swimsuit out from between her buttocks, which I think is really cute, but she seems to be wearing something under her suit. Is it a suit liner? A pair of panties? I dunno. It looks odd to me.

BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review

I had some strong reservations about how the paintwork on this figure was going to turn out, particularly since my one other BEAT figure wasn’t all that fantastic. Fortunately, Tamaki has a simplistic color scheme so it’s not too noticeable. Her skin is pale and subtly shaded; I would’ve preferred the bold airbrushing that the box illustrations show. The blue color of her suit is nice but her hair is sort of a rusty red color, which deviates from the bright red tresses that she normally sports. I would’ve liked the brighter color, myself. Overall, I don’t see anything that is enormously bad but there’s nothing that stands out as being particularly impressive, either.

BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review

I’ll admit that I wasn’t looking forward to this figure after I found out I couldn’t cancel it. My opinion of it has improved, seeing it in person, but to be frank, I still would’ve preferred to cancel it. It’s not irredeemably bad, per se, but it’s not particularly great either, and I probably could’ve set the money aside to buy something else, like that Fate figure with the big-ass head that’s in Hobby Search’s bargain bin. Or a new timing belt for my car, which I’m going to need sometime soon. Curiously, I haven’t seen many reviews of that Fate Testarossa figure on any of the sites I check, but I’ve seen a ton of reviews of this Tamaki and the one with the see-through white suit. I’m not sure how I should feel about that. On one hand, it’s nice to see a figure with huge breasts and a thick body get some love. On the other hand, it’s a BEAT figure and I just can’t get over that. In the end, I think I’ll take the more optimistic view and say that this isn’t the worst Tamaki I’ve seen by far and it’s not the worst figure I’ve bought this year by far. She’s got her pluses and I’ll focus more on those, even if she’ll be getting placed closer to the back of the shelf than the front.

BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review
BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review
BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review
BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review
BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review
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26 Responses to Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 (Sports Lessons Swimming Version)

  1. Shashin says:

    Probably about what I expected from a Beat figure. The Mizugi Kanojo figure I have from them was fairly mediocre overall, but it had some good points. The things I disliked most were the crappy paint job, the lack of great detail, and the fact that her ponytail had a peg to go into the back of her head, versus being one with her head (and it didn’t fit all too well, either.)

    Shame you couldn’t cancel it, but at least your weren’t as disappointed as you thought you were going to be. Not that I’m preordering much anymore anyway, but I’ve decided that if I ever consider picking up another Beat figure, I’ll wait and see if it hits the bargain bin first. And to comment on boobs, I certainly fall in the smaller camp, though I can occasionally appreciate larger assets such as these.

    • Tier says:

      I see some similarities to that figure here, particularly in the style of the swimsuit. Unfortunately some of the less desirable similarities also carry over, but I was expecting that. Yeah, if I were cutting back on expenses, a BEAT figure wouldn’t even make my list, bargain bin or no … there are too many other decent figures out there in the discount pile to give them serious consideration, I think.

      • Shashin says:

        It’s unfortunate that they’re such an under achieving producer, too. I know I’d love the Maid Bride figure for instance, but the high price and the fact that BEAT is involved is keeping me far far away from it. Now that I’ve cut my figure purchases to maybe 1-2 in the coming months (Dizzy, Tohsaka, and maybe Princess Bitch) I certainly wouldn’t consider so much as preordering a BEAT figure.

        On unrelated topics, I’ve watched the first season of Index and the season of Railgun. I’d still recommend Index if you ever find yourself looking for something to watch. The first 10 or so episodes of Railgun are at a glacial pace and I didn’t much care for them myself. It almost feels like a slice of life show with occasional bits of action. The later half was better, but I still liked the season of Index a ton more.

        Unfortunately the overall story format is something I’m not too fond of, but it’s present in practically all anime that lasts for 24 episodes or more. I really hate the mini-arcs that go for two or three episodes, either with or without a larger story that’s built up in similar mini-arcs or has more of a presence throughout the series. I’d much prefer a condensed story that stays on the main point most/all of the way through.

        • Ashlotte says:

          Try to not sound like a dick when I say this Shashin, but I absolutely would not recommended Index! I found the show to be terrible and barely made it 2/3rds of the way through the first season and dropped it after the first abysmal episode of the second…Specifically I hate Touma and I somewhat highly doubt Tier would like him either just my gut instinct…

          On the other hand I enjoyed Railgun a great deal since it dropped the horrible male lead for the more enjoyable Misaka and all the principle characters seemed to get fairly equivalent screen time where Index likes to relegate most of it’s secondary cast to obscurity until it suddenly remembers they exist…

          • Shashin says:

            You’re not coming off as a dick; everyone has different tastes. I don’t mind Touma, though I’d say his personality could use some building.

            I liked Misaka, but definitely preferred Kuroko… even if she does sound like an old lady most of the time. I don’t know, the pace for the first half just seemed too slow for me, and I didn’t really care for some of the story arcs in Railgun. I liked the second half of the series a lot more, but getting to that point was an exercise of will at some points. The characters popping in and out didn’t really bother me; they had their initials arcs and made appearances every now and then. Railgun had a few characters like that too, though they appeared more consistently, but they weren’t any of the four main characters.

          • drakanity says:

            Yup, everything is really all about your opinion and tastes. As a viewer of both, depending on if you like the genre, they could be good animes to watch or pretty terrible.

            I enjoyed them both and I’m a fan, but if I’m looking at the other side, I can say they both aren’t that great either.

            Index feels a bit more darker. The first few eps or more are pretty interesting; then it seems to go downhill or rather to the point of what is going on? Railgun is the opposite. The story doesn’t seem to pick up until the later eps. I will say they do have some pretty good characters though, but unfortunately they seem to come and go as mentioned.

            @Shashin, have you been watching Index 2? I didn’t start it yet since I’m waiting for the series to end.

          • Shashin says:

            I think that’s why I prefer Index over Railgun; Index picked up right away for me and was amazingly easy to get into. I was invested by the later half of the series that I noticed a decline, but it didn’t bother me too much. It’s a shame that a bigger story was only hinted at and not really showcased, though. Whereas Railgun was incredibly hard to get into, and didn’t pick up until about the half way point. They both are similar in genre, but Index seemed a bit more action oriented while Railgun was just a bit more slice of life-ish.

            I’ve watched the first 2-3 episodes of Index II. I don’t like following series week by week as I’m always left looking for more, so I try to stay about a season behind. I watched Index and Railgun, and googled it to see that there’s only one episode left to air; I figured by the time I made it that far, it would likely be subbed or I’d only have a few days to wait, which I can handle. If it were a more ecchi/service oriented show, I’d likely wait for the DVD/Blu-ray releases, but there doesn’t seem to be much difference between disks/broadcast in the first season.

        • Tier says:

          I will keep that in mind. However, with so many episodes in three series, it’s kinda intimidating to get into, since I doubt I’d ever finish it. Yeah, that’s sorta what I heard about Railgun, it tosses in a lot of filler to pad out the season. I’m thinking I might get back to watching Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou soon, and I should probably finish Seikon no Qwaser, since the second season is apparently starting very soon. I am somewhat surprised that Qwaser did well enough to get a second run.

  2. George says:

    I actually like her quite a bit, but then I’m partial to full figured women. Her tits and ass certainly are “majestic”, I might even say “bodacious”. I also have their figure Wind Goddess Rafale and while there are shortcomings in the body painting and overall presentation quality once again the bountiful umm “assets” won me over. although they really should have fixed her nose or lack of it lol. So as an aside to this it’s interesting for me to note that for some time now “Velvet” by Yamato has been my favorite figure and the one I display most proudly. Even though she is not as full figured, she is just so beautifully done. Beat could certainly take some pointers as to how attention to detail and overall quality is so very important.

    • Tier says:

      I don’t like Rafale much but that’s mainly because she is leaning incredibly badly. I don’t have any other figures that have leaned as badly as she is. To her credit, though, she has remarkably resilient legs and base pegs; my old swimsuit Saber figure by Alter leaned forward a bit and I didn’t think it was a big deal, until one day she snapped her pegs and fell flat on her face.

      Yeah, Velvet is a fantastic figure, I’m really hoping Yamato or someone continues doing PVC versions of Bubba’s work. He’s an extremely talented sculptor and I’d love it if I could own more of his stuff, since I have no ability to build the kits myself.

  3. Cantan says:

    Figure looks alright… except for whatever the hell that line is in her left buttock… but BEAT is, well BEAT.

    Have seen (and bought) too many average/bad figures recently… don’t think I’ve be really happy with a purchase since Selvaria and Ryofu (and they were early December I think).

    Emaretta was fine (but not incredible),
    Buddy was a disappointment,
    Kaguya was massively expensive (and lacking in some quality),
    Shii was fine (but she’s keeping her skirt on!),
    Lily was… very disappointing,
    Izulha was a mistake that is going back as she isn’t worth the import tax and handling fees,
    Shouko looks OK… but is staying in (and has never come out of) her box,

    Haven’t had much luck with figures recently and I’m just not touching some of these dodgier manufacturers. Nearly got tricked by the inflatable alligator on BEAT’s last offering!

    That said, I have to pick up Toranoana’s Alleyne from the post office this week… she’s a very unknown quantity (but I think/hope I’ll like her). Other than her I’m kinda banking on the stalwarts of decent supply (Daiki, Alter and to a lesser extent MegaHouse & Orchidseed) to appeasemy derth of decent figures. Don’t think this Tamaki will qualify (though Daiki’s…)

    • Tier says:

      I’ve kinda been telling myself I ought to cut back on marginal figures as well. Like, if I’m not 100% committed to wanting a figure, I probably ought to not buy it. It’s so hard to restrain myself, though. Heck, there’s one figure I kinda want just because the character is wearing thong underwear.

      Hmm, I was kinda interested in Izulha; this is MegaHouse’s adult Izulha? I remember seeing her in the bargain bin over at HLJ not too long ago and I thought about picking her up, since she has a full castoff feature.

      Yeah, this Tamaki definitely wouldn’t qualify under that criteria. It’s a shame that MF and GSC have scaled back their PVC stuff to do other things; Alter’s pretty much the only company that I expect to be consistently good, whatever they release.

      • drakanity says:

        That is actually what I’ve done. I managed to cut back a lot. Before, it was really hard to pass up unique qualities. Whether it has chains, wings, a cool weapon, castoff, or special accessories, it really tempted me just like you and your thong 😀

        I now only buy ones that I really really want. It either needs to be a character that I like or the quality/pose/cuteness/etc needs to be just too good to pass up. I’ve cut back a ton and even sold off a lot to make room. Well that’s my excuse for selling them off lol…but mainly because I did regret a lot of them.

        • Tier says:

          I ought to do the same. The problem is, I’m really easy to please, when it comes to good-looking figures. It doesn’t take much at all to make me want to buy something.

  4. Aka says:

    Wow… those breasts are huge. Disgustingly huge. I could barely look at these pictures they’re so enormous.

    It is strange for her to be wearing something under her swimsuit, I have no idea what it’d be. Perhaps I’d rather not know what it is.

    I think if her breasts were smaller she’d be a more attractive figure, but overall there’s nothing I like about her.She seems like she’d be so much bigger than me and I don’t like that.

    • Tier says:

      Haha, I wasn’t expecting you to even read this post. Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything for you to like here, particularly since this is Tamaki. And while my next figure review will feature a character with much, much smaller breasts and much, much higher manufacturing quality, I don’t think there’ll be much for you to like there, either XD

  5. Ashlotte says:

    I liked her ass! until i saw whatever that is near her hand and had a gag reflex…It might be some undergarment like you said, but at least from the lighting in the shots the color is too close to her skin tone for comfort and looks like a really horrid sculpting mistake. T_T

    Other then that all I can do is laugh at that contrived base that you had to tweak to make work haha…oh Beat…

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I dunno what that’s supposed to be; I was really, really hoping it was some sort of sculpting flaw when I saw the prototype, but I guess it’s actually supposed to be something and I dunno what.

      Yeah, it’s a silly thing to need to do but hey, I studied engineering in school so I’m cool with whatever it takes to get the job done XD I just hope that she doesn’t take a swan dive off the shelf or anything, since she’s not secured down by any means.

  6. Fabienne says:

    Lol gangsta lean saber sounds pretty cool.
    I think Hobbysearchs new cancelation policy sucks big time 🙁

    Oh so this Tamaki looks like in the end, I was interested in getting her for some minutes after the first preview pictures were shown, but in the end I passed because of her size and the too big boobs.
    For me picture tamaki-kousaka-14.jpg lets her shine the most in this angle she looks quite pretty. This figure reminds me of the a little bit chubby but sexy girl from the Mizugi Kanojo “Ova”
    Well her upper body looks very twisted, it looks painful somehow from a few angles.
    For me the best part of this figure is, that she has a nicely sculpted pelvis and waist area. Aside from the too big boobs, these well endowed curves look very sexy and attractive.
    Thats a really tight swimsuit it looks like japanese swimsuits are made of rubber instead of fabric ^o^

  7. drakanity says:

    Aside from the turn around pose and fan service in some of the “special areas”, I don’t see much going for this. It was a shame you couldn’t cancel. I’ve also had a few where I didn’t want to cancel in fear they might flag me or something.

    But damn, what do you (and Shashin) do for a living? Haha. Spent enough in 2 years for an automobile in just that store? Pretty insane especially when you count all the other stores. And then you have living expenses as well. At least it gives all us readers a treat from your reviews ^o^

    • Shashin says:

      I’m a poor college student who came into came into a decent sum of money. I think I made the smartest and most financially responsible move for what I could have done with the movie. Dakimakura covers are certainly going to retain and gain in value in the future, clearly.

    • Tier says:

      I wonder what would happen if I just ignored the payment request. This figure is actually sold out at Hobby Search so it seems they had no problems getting people to buy it.

      I’m a programmer at my day job. I guess I should qualify that’s a used economy automobile that I’ve spent the equivalent of XD

      • Cantan says:

        About $300 for an old banger then? Hmm thought you would have spent more than that!

        I hate to think how much I’ve spent in a relatively short time too.

        I love her (still probably my favourite model), but my Miko Daiki Kanu alone cost me a lot (really wanted her so paid… $280 + say $35 EMS + $80 import tax and handling…) best part of $400 on one figure… only other figure that came close was Kaguya at about $250 (I still regret that – don’t use international Ebay sites anymore after that!)

        As I’m in the process of doing up a 4 bedroom house (largely from scratch) at the same time… this is probably a hobby I can’t maintain, certainly not at current levels… keep trying to cut back… but then another cute figure gets announced. Am very tempted to just dismantle my PC again so I can’t find out about them.

        Irony is that I still have a personal Holy Grail I want, that I haven’t been able to find at a price I’m willing to pay: http://ebten.jp/p/4541993015368

        • Tier says:

          I’m not keeping close track of how much I’m spending even though I probably should. It’s quite a bit, though. Fortunately I’m pretty frugal everywhere else.

          I’d been collecting figures for a few years when I started this site but even then, the idea of paying $150 or so for a figure was preposterous to me. Then it become something I’d do only for particular figures, like miko Kanu (and I waffled for a very long time on her). Now it doesn’t faze me at all.

          I took a look around for that figure and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I do remember seeing the previews for that one but I guess it must be very rare.

  8. Anonymous says:

    I recently got mine as well, and while I too like the exaggerated body figure, the fact that it doesn’t stand properly without aid is completely unacceptable.

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, it’s a pretty weak part of the figure. It would’ve been nice if the small base attached to her right foot were more substantial to keep her from tipping over all the time. I’m not too bothered by having to stuff padding under her knee to keep her upright but I don’t like feeling that she might pitch off my shelf because she’s not stabilized.

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