Cyril Brooklyn from Pieces 2 (NSFW)

Cyril Brooklyn from Pieces 2

And it’s back to figure reviews – delayed due to an annoyingly persistent case of the flu. Winter’s end cannot come too soon. Today we’ll be looking at Cyril Brooklyn, a character that comes from the artwork of renowned artist Masamune Shirow. Shirow is best-known for creating the series Ghost in the Shell, and his style is perhaps most closely associated with that of the 1980s and 1990s. It seems appropriate, then, that this figure is manufactured by Arcadia – the reincarnation of Yamato Toys, who were well-known for their Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Macross Plus, and Macross 7 toys. Figures based on his illustrations are not all that common, but fans of his art now have this one, the previously-released Iris Hallett, and the upcoming Daiki Kougyou figure of Nanal Grahambury. It’s not exactly an embarrassment of riches, but it’s nice to see his work get some love from the figure makers.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

Masamune Shirow is the alias of Masanori Ota, a notoriously reclusive illustrator and author based in Kobe. Aside from Ghost in the Shell, he is also known for creating the series Black Magic, Dominion Tank Police, and Appleseed, which received a high-profile, CGI-heavy animated movie adaptation titled Appleseed Ex Machina back in 2007.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

It’s Ghost in the Shell that Shirow is chiefly known for, however. The series has received critical acclaim, with the 1995 feature film particularly being lauded. (I have to admit that I didn’t care for it when I saw it – but then, I was around 15 years old and I probably wasn’t intellectually mature enough to appreciate it.) Its significance goes beyond the typically-insular nature of anime; back when the Wachowski brothers were trying to secure backing to film The Matrix, they screened Ghost in the Shell for Joel Silver, telling him that they wanted to do a live-action version of the anime. While that wasn’t the only time that anime has influenced an American production – the Hollywood box office bomb Stealth was partially inspired by Macross Plus, and there are some conspicuous parallels between Outlaw Star and Joss Whedon’s television series Firefly – it is rare for anime to stray outside its own cultural boundaries and cross over into the mainstream. Given his international success – during a time when anime was still very much a niche thing – it wouldn’t be an understatement to say that Shirow is one of the most significant creators in the history of anime culture.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

You wouldn’t know that by surveying the contemporary anime landscape, though. If you took a cross section of current anime fans and asked them to identify some important anime artists, I bet you’d get names like Tony Taka, redjuice, Huke, and Noizi Itou, but I would doubt you’d hear Shirow’s name much, at least from the younger members of the fanbase. His present anonymity – indeed, perhaps even irrelevancy – might be largely due to the fact that he’s basically been doing hentai for the last decade or so. While his earlier creations were associated with a fusion of cyberpunk aesthetics with an exploration of humanity and technology, his more recent work features shiny-skinned and perky-breasted women being molested by men, women, demons, spiders, plants, tentacles, and other things that defy categorization. Some of his artbooks contain text but I’m guessing it’s more akin to “unf” and “iku” rather than philosophical discourse. (There’s a funny review of one of the Pieces books on Amazon JP, in which the reviewer said he bought the volume and tried to read it on the train, only to hastily close the book when he saw that it was nothing but porn.)

Cyril Brooklyn figure

The character we are looking at here springs from one such work. Cyril Brooklyn is one of the many characters Shirow has created in recent times; she appears in the artbook Pieces 2, alongside the afore-mentioned Iris (review pending here). She also appears in the book W-Tails Cat, which curiously received an interactive 3D animation hentai movie version titled W-Tails Cat ~Delusion World, which shows a naked Cyril copulating with some sort of black-garbed storm trooper. It’s fully voiced and even has a couple of electronic music tracks that wouldn’t have sounded too out of place in Stand Alone Complex.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

Back to the figure: Cyril stands about 28 centimeters in height and is sculpted in 1/6 scale. She comes with a few accessories, including a gun, a nicely-sculpted stool, and an alternative torso for cast-off viewing; more on that in a bit.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

Shirow’s style is eminently recognizable, in large part because it hasn’t changed much in the last twenty or thirty years. His female character designs typically have prominent eyelashes, large irises, and highly elongated body physiques. It’s a style straight out of the 90s, for better or worse, and compared to current trends, it looks incredibly dated, and that is likely another reason why Shirow is not as well-known as he used to be.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

Interestingly, Cyril seems to take the receiving role in the numerous sexual encounters she participates in, and she usually exhibits some degree of distress, or at least surprise. Here, she looks very calm, with her lips slightly pursed for some reason or another. The lack of pupils in her eyes means that it’s not easy to discern exactly which direction she’s looking in, which is a little disconcerting.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

Cyril is typically drawn as a brunette but the figure has her as a blonde with dark roots, with her hair darkening to brown again closer to the tips. It’s a very nice effect. Further, her hair is detailed all the way around, without any smooth helmet hair patches.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

Shirow is known for drawing attractive women in abbreviated attire – another aspect more often seen in the 90s, when it was possible to have a lead female character in a skimpy outfit without igniting a firestorm of controversy on internet message boards. (Admittedly, such an incident might have helped propel Vanillaware’s Dragon Crown to sales figures that might not have otherwise been obtainable.) Cyril is a bit more dressed than some of his other characters have been; she’s wearing a tight dress shirt and a miniskirt, not an atypical outfit for a professional anime lady.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

The bold hemline of her skirt emphasizes the length of her legs and true to Shirow’s style, Cyril does have some very long legs. She also has rather thick thighs for her body build; if she didn’t have anime-style eyes, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine her being designed by a Western illustrator rather than a Japanese artist.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

Like a number of anime artists, Shirow seems to have an interest in firearms. Many of his characters use futuristic-looking guns, often in a bullpup configuration – such is the case here. The unusual shape of the gun provides a hard, industrial contrast to Cyril’s feminine form.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

Speaking of which, if one desires to see more of Cyril’s feminine form, Arcadia obliges by allowing one to remove her skirt. The castoff process is very straightforward; she separates at the waist and the skirt slides right off. An instruction sheet is provided, but the process is quite simple, which I’m grateful for as I really dislike fiddling around with fussy castoff systems; it’s a big reason why I have certain figures sitting here in the review queue, waiting for their turn in front of the camera.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

If that’s not enough, a separate torso piece is provided with an open blouse, revealing her tits for close inspection. Said inspection does bring up a curious issue in that the skin tone of her upper torso seems darker than that of her arms, face, and legs. It’s not quite so glaring that it’s the first thing you notice, but it looks a little odd, especially when all of her components are separated and are placed next to each other. That said, it’s highly unlikely anyone will be displaying only her separated parts, so it doesn’t seem like too big a deal to me.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

Unlike some – maybe most – anime artists, Shirow doesn’t seem to have a fetish for large breasts, even though almost all of his characters are visibly adult. Cyril’s rack isn’t all that large, at least not by anime standards, and the relatively small size of her upper body makes for an interesting contrast with the wide span of her hips and the exaggerated length of her legs.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

Cyril comes with one more accessory, a pair of spectacles which sort of slide in under her bangs. I’m not sure how securely they fit and I don’t really care because they look moronic and I don’t plan on ever using them. The oversized-eyeglasses is another vestige of older anime style that went out of fashion sometime in the last decade, and I’m glad it did. (Hopefully the peculiar trend of colored eyelashes that I’m seeing more and more often will follow suit soon.)

Cyril Brooklyn figure

And since I know what everyone wants to see, I’ll include this picture here without commentary.

Cyril Brooklyn figure

I like this figure a lot; aside from her obvious characteristics, it brings back a lot of nostalgia for me. Ghost in the Shell was one of the anime movies I watched when I got back into anime in the early 90s, and several figures of the Major from Ghost in the Shell were among the first figures I collected when I got back into buying anime merchandise in the early 2000s. Indeed, those Motoko figures were distributed by Toycom, which is now Yamato USA. I bought several of Yamato’s Macross VF-1 Valkyrie toys at around the same time, which is a big reason why I’ve always had a fondness for their products (of course, I also have a strong fondness for their vmf50 and Angel Philia dolls, although I have to admit that some of their concepts are a little too racy, even for me). Aside from the nostalgic factor, though, she has a lot of traits that I like: sexy body, big gun, thong, and so on. I’m quite happy with this figure and I’m really hoping that Arcadia doesn’t stop with her; it would be fantastic if they made a figure of the Hell Hound girl as well.

Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure
Cyril Brooklyn figure by Arcadia
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36 Responses to Cyril Brooklyn from Pieces 2 (NSFW)

  1. Tian says:

    Sorry to hear about your flu, that’s never fun.

    Things that make this the most 90s figure ever:
    – Large, square eyes
    – Sharp chin
    – Short hair
    – Blouse + miniskirt combo
    – Panties that ride high on the hips
    – Fingerless gloves
    – Masamune Shirow (I agree with you about Ghost in the Shell btw. I’ve gone back to it and it just feels like a lit/philosophy student vomited everything he’s read into a screenplay. GitS 2 Innocence is especially bad.)

    And did you just link to a dick accessory for a doll? I’m pretty sure that’s what I saw.

    • Tier says:

      This illness is most annoying; it’s been a pretty long time since I’ve had a flu (or been sick for more than a day or two). I think I’m feeling much better today; the past few days have been interesting, at least, in that sitting around all day in a medicated stupor kinda shuffles the priorities in one’s life.

      Indeed! Plus she has a wacky weird gun. I remember 1990s comic books always had weird-looking guns.

      I kinda find that a lot of aspects of anime culture are pretentious like that; I have a suspicion that particularly applies to things like Fate/stay night. I really wonder whether Fate/stay night would have the sort of fanbase it does if it had been written by a white person rather than a Japanese.

      I’m … pretty sure that’s what it is though I’m not going to run the page through Google Translate to confirm. I’ve sometimes thought that my doll pictures were a little out there and now I find out the company that manufactures the dolls I buy is even more wacky. I’m not sure whether I should be thrilled or terrified.

  2. Bunnychan says:

    My husband owns the Iris figurine and loves it (he has a thing for chicks with guns). We passed on this one, mostly due to cash. Your shots make me really want to get her though. Out of curiosity, how easy was she to set up on her base?

    I may be one of the few people who wishes we had the ’80’s and 90’s anime back. I am not a fan of the newest styles, what with the non-existent noses (I much prefer something like “Utena” noses). I think those two decades had the best and most unique styles, but I’ll be straight up and say I’m an odd-ball; my favorite Japanese artist is Kotobuki Tsukasa, whom I know a lot of people hate his style, but he’s my god.

    • Tier says:

      She was really easy to set up, which is something I appreciate a lot. One foot goes into the base and then you can slide in the stool (which stands on its own; it’s not connected to the base) under her bottom. She’s stable and all her parts detach easily yet fit tightly, which is also nice.

      Haha, yeah, I miss those days; my favorite anime of all time is Macross Plus, with its pointy-nosed character designs and all. That is definitely an unconventional choice XD I never did play Battle Arena Tohshinden (it was more of a Playstation title, as I remember, and my siblings and I had a Sega Saturn) but I very much liked the character designs, especially Sofia’s. The blonde-haired female European assassin trope never gets old. (Noir is also one of my favorite anime shows, though I guess it was an early 2000s series.)

      • Bunnychan says:

        That is great to hear; I get really annoyed when I can’t fit a figurine together or they don’t sit correctly on their base. I’ll keep an eye out for her in case she drops in price.

        I used to own “Battle Arena Tohshinden” for the PC way back when (I couldn’t tell you what happened to it). I sucked balls at it though! “Saber Marionette” was my first VHS and DVD purchase so it holds a very special place in my heart.

        I have not seen “Noir” but I have heard good things about it. A nice blonde that isn’t just a bimbo is great; maybe that’s why almost all my favorite characters are blondes. I will say that the early 2000’s had some good series as well. I don’t want to come across as if I hate all newer anime. There are still some good series coming out, you just have a dig through a lot of crap.

        • Tier says:

          Yeah, I’m naturally nostalgic but I don’t dislike contemporary shows either, though I wish that anime studios would innovate a bit more than they do. At least, I don’t think I watched too many harem or incest shows back in the 90s. I’m just a cranky old man now; I say the same thing about music (the stuff kids listen to these days sucks), sports (Michael Jordan is way better than LeBron James), video games … almost everything except cars, I guess.

          • TomTheCat says:

            I agree that most things were better in the past, even cars. I appreciate the sheer performance that today’s supercars are able to put on the road, but I’d pick a 1968 Dodge Charger over a fancy modern Ferrari any day. (While talking about Ferrari, my absoulute dream machine would be a 1959 250 GT Berlinetta SWB…)

            And while you wouldn’t comment on picture # 17, here’s what I have to say: I like the texture of the stool’s seat 😀

          • Tier says:

            I’ve never been big on old cars, I guess (one reason why I never really got into the old James Bond movies), though I have to admit that I still like the styling of the Lamborghini Countach and Ferrari F40 over most modern sports cars, and I suppose those are 1970s and 1980s designs.

            I hadn’t even noticed the texture on the seat until you mentioned it; it really does look like leather, which is pretty impressive considering that the seat isn’t much more than maybe an inch and a half in diameter. They really did a nice job with it, among other things.

  3. BostonBrandon says:

    I’m hoping that you’re on the up and up and also that when you do Iris’ shoot we’ll get to see a picture or two of her with Cyril. I don’t own either. However, I plan on picking both of them up once my finances are in order.
    I’m a huge Masamune Shirow fan (also a huge Yamato fan, who I don’t think people give nearly enough credit) and was kind of sucked into the world of anime thanks in a large part to Ghost in the shell. Not counting Voltron, Akira was my first anime experience which had been so earth shattering that I decided to seek out the only other anime which I knew of at the time, Ghost in the Shell. Needless to say it had had a fairly profound impact on the way I looked at cartoons.
    Shirow’s style has always been eye catching and I was particularly pleased to see both Cyril and Iris made into plastic. I kind of regret not having preordered both, if only to support the franchise.
    Also, while I’m not really a gun nut I can’t help but love Cyril’s piece. It’s very reminiscent of the Major’s gun during her final showdown with the tank which I always thought looked pretty badass!

    • Tier says:

      Thanks for the well wishes! I’m mostly recovered now, though my excessive napping (brought on in large part by decongestants) and the daylight time shift is wreaking havoc on my sleep schedule. Yeah, I like Yamato a lot; they’ve got some crap figures but they also have some really nice ones; Kiriko Hattori, diskvision’s Iroha, and Air Gear Ringo are amongst my favorite figures. I’ve even got a couple of their Neuromancer/C:Mo poseable action figures here; I suppose I should review them someday, even though I’m really bad at photographing action figures.

      I have to admit Ghost in the Shell’s plot didn’t make a huge impression on me, since I was far too dumb to really appreciate it. Still, it also hugely influenced the way I viewed cartoons and anime in that it was obviously a very high-end production, and it was one of those movies that really made me realize that you could do a really impressive adult-oriented film in animation. They don’t seem to come along as much nowadays; Ghost in the Shell and Akira are obviously the two that most people have seen, and I would personally put Macross: DYRL? up there too (though the version I saw had a hilariously bad dub), but I can’t really name too many more (maybe some of Miyazaki’s stuff? I haven’t actually ever seen any of his movies but I have the impression they’re generally in the category of targeted at kids but able to be appreciated by adults.).

      I think her gun’s similarity is no accident; there’s even a picture that I saw on Wikipedia which suggests her gun is made by Seburo, which if I remember right is also the source of many of the firearms in Ghost in the Shell. I guess that’s one way for Shirow to tie his creations together.

      • BostonBrandon says:

        I have no knowledge of Macross, I do however have a soft spot for many of the early dubs. Some good, some horrendous (Imari of Bible Black), but quite a few which hold a special place in my heart.
        It’s funny that you mention Ringo or as my girlfriend refers to her “strap girl”. I had picked her up on sale from a local comic book shop simply due to her low price. Though three years later she’s become one of my favorites.
        I love Miyazaki and would agree with the summation that most if not all of his films can be enjoyed by adults just as much as children if not more so. I don’t suppose that you’ve seen Wolf Children which while not a product of Studio Ghibli is very similar to their stable.

        • Tier says:

          As I heard it, the Macross DYRL? dub was performed by actors who were still learning English or something like that, which is why it was so hilariously bad. I haven’t watched much dubbed anime recently, but maybe I should give it a shot; it’d give me a good reason to re-watch some older shows, since it’d be like watching them all over again (and I do remember that there were a few shows that I actually liked the dub over the original actors; I think ZOE Dolores, i was one such show).

          I really like Ringo as well; she looks great and I recall that figure was the subject of particularly peculiar vitriol back in the day, which just makes me like it even more. Unfortunately my figure is leaning rather noticeably since the pegs in her feet have partially broken; I’m not quite sure how to fix that.

          Yeah, I haven’t seen Wolf Children either; frankly, I’m much more likely to have seen the latest bondage hentai show (euphoria is getting a third episode!) than Wolf Children or a Miyazaki film or the Evangelion movies (not sure Evangelion really belongs in that company but for some reason or another it’s gotten a lot of critical analysis of theme and symbolism over the years). I won’t lie, I’m not much of a high-culture person, particularly not with anime (and especially not with food; I’d generally rather eat a cheeseburger at Five Guys than a multi-course meal at some expensive restaurant).

          • BostonBrandon says:

            Five Guys all the way!

          • Tier says:

            I remember the first time I saw a Five Guys, it was down by a rather dilapidated part of town, and I assumed it was some sort of crappy local hamburger joint (it technically was local; Five Guys hadn’t begun nationwide franchising at that point), so I kept driving by it and never went inside. A couple years later, I was in college and a Five Guys opened up near the campus. The first time I bought a burger there made me a convert, and I really wish I’d discovered the place sooner. (I also wish that In-n-Out would expand to the east coast, since I keep hearing about their burgers and I’m curious how they compare.)

  4. Tets says:

    Nice looking figure. Her shirt defies clothing physics somewhat gloriously!

    • Tier says:

      It does! That’s very much a Shirow thing too, I guess; he’s got a lot of pictures where clothing clings in ways it really should not be able to.

  5. wieselhead says:

    nonsense Tier her glasses are nerdy great and big glasses are the best anyway!
    I really like her with glasses, even though they could have framed them a bit more.

    The figure has a very nice head, hair, face and eyes appear quite pretty, I like her design, it’s interesting and sexy, parts of her outfit look more 80’s than 90’s

    I can’t name any anime artist without looking it up, not even the newer ones X<

    New anime still is appealing to me, but in the *past" there already was interesting anime I enjoyed.
    I also loved the characterdesigns with funky hairstyles, like in Burn up W or Shin Tenchi Muyo! I think it is good that anime moved closer to mainstream media, you can buy many new and popular shows with subtitles or unwanted ;D dubs, hell I would even wish to get a few less popular shows with subtitles, sure you can download everything on time, but there things I like so much that I would buy them.

    Something similar ; back in the days only cool people were collecting figures, nowadays every fucking moron has one or more. I don't know if I should be happy about the increased popularity or not, att least there are better figures with each year, thx to a growing community. Actually the only reason I wrote "fucking moron" are mainly the number silly comments on mfc, a few years ago it was more fun to read there.

    Any the figure is cool and so are your pictures, really like the last one and a few others.

    • Tier says:

      Haha, I have to admit that I’ve never liked glasses, mainly because I don’t like wearing glasses myself (I would love to get Lasik surgery; maybe in the next year or so). At any rate, it’s good to know at least one person out there is a fan of her spectacles XD

      Yeah, I liked those 80s and 90s design sensibilities, with the big hair and the tight outfits. I also liked the Burn Up character designs (Burn Up Scramble had good designs, too); I was also a big fan of characters like Melfina from Outlaw Star and Hikaru from Angelic Layer, with their big messy hairstyles. I’m also glad that anime has become more mainstream; not only is it more accessible, it’s also nice that not everyone thinks that it’s either kiddy cartoons or animated porn (though a lot of the shows airing these days come pretty close to the latter …).

      Ahahaha, yeah, I sometimes skim through the comments and I notice there’s a lot of complaining going on there, which I guess is normal for any sort of forum. Frankly, it’d be nice if more people understood that you don’t have to express every single one of your opinions for the world to see; in the long run, it really doesn’t matter.

  6. il-Palazzo says:

    Since she’s holding a gun, I always think those huge glasses are shooting range protective glasses. The size wouldn’t be so ridiculous if it is.

    Man, I love pointy boobs.

    • Tier says:

      Quote possibly! Shirow does have a thing for giant spectacles, and he definitely likes his perky breasts too. (I guess he also likes women contorted into very difficult positions but that doesn’t really come across in this figure.)

  7. Shadow says:

    Please do the Kuruim Tokisaki figure !

  8. Bakayaro says:

    Very nice shots. She is beautiful and I love her sexy pose. I also enjoy her skintight skirt. :3

  9. Tsunami3k says:

    She’s been on my wishlist since I first saw her but I’ve had to be a bit more selective given how expensive figures have gotten recently. I completely missed the fact (until seeing this figure shoot) that she had an alternate “topless” top. That’s right up there with me not realizing the Dendrobium girls didn’t have pants until I bought them!

    A nice shoot as always. While I always appreciate your more elaborate backgrounds, I know it’s nice to change things up a bit and that spotlight-like effect has an oddly timeless beat-cop vibe to it.

    • Tier says:

      The upturn in figure prices is certainly annoying; there are a few figures that have recently gone up for order that I would be much more likely to order if they weren’t over 10k yen.

      Yeah, I didn’t really have much of an idea for a set for this figure, plus looking over a couple of recently-released books from photographers that I admire (Greg Heisler and Dan Winters) has made me appreciate their low-key (in emotional tone) work. Though I had to bust out the rim light anyway … I did take a number of shots without the rim light but somehow, I keep preferring the pictures that use one.

  10. Steve Chen says:

    Sometimes reality sucks. That or my monitor is too HD. I also got this little dumpling since the last Yamato Shirow fig I own was the cold cast resin “Crossblade/bow” from Intron Depot 2. Nanal is also next on my buy list. Speaking of which, if you watched South Park, there was an episode when the ambiguously gay teacher who rode a bike with a dildo stuck on his @ss. Well, Shirow also presented that scene in one of his poster works (not very sure if it was Cyrill since I can’t read Japanese). Just imagine if one of the figure companies like Daiki or even Arcadia releases it in all its 3D glory? Hahahaha

    About the fig. Cyrill in reality looks more dark skinned unlike the box art and your shots also enhance that………I wonder what you call such a phenomena? Same can be said on my G1 Ultra Magnus, when I shoot him on digi cam, he looks dark blue but in reality it looks royal blue……..wtf?

    Sorry for deviating from the topic. If I have any complaints from the work of G.O. is that at skirt off, Cyrill still retains her skirt’s “belt”(?)

    Your photo shoot setup? Hands down typical Tier work. On a scale of 8 tentacles, with 8 being perfect (use the octopus scale), I give you 8.1 tentacles (why, you could implement a feedback mechanism for your site using the 8 tentacle scaling for each one of your photo shoots lol!)

    • Tier says:

      I have to admit that I’m not a big huge South Park fan, but it doesn’t surprise me at all that that sort of scenario showed up in both the cartoon and in Shirow’s work … Shirow has done some fairly raunchy stuff, and I think W Tails Cat is actually getting a video release sometime this year, which could be neat. The way figures are going these days, I could actually see that sort of artwork getting a figure adaptation, maybe from Daiki or Dragon Toy.

      I guess that’s just photography … I know I always try to make the figure look as good as possible, which isn’t necessarily the way it looks in real life (if I need to see what a figure actually looks like, I’ll usually check MFC; the photographic quality is often not too high but those shots are frequently very honest). I know whenever I look at myself in the mirror, I don’t give it a second thought, but when I see myself in a photograph, I’m like, “Man, that’s what I look like?”

      Yeah, I thought that was a little odd too, that she retains that belt or sash or whatever. I can see why it’s necessary for practical purposes, though; most figures seem to separate at the panty waistband but Cyril’s underwear is so high-cut (another of those lovely 80s and 90s stylistic quirks) that I guess that wouldn’t have worked here.

      That would be pretty funny, though I think I’d be my own harshest critic (though who knows, maybe I’ve got some haters somewhere!). Of most of my previous shoots, I’d definitely give myself a negative or mediocre rating (maybe that’s an idea for a future post … go through some of my old pictures and evaluate myself with the benefit of hindsight).

  11. Halbred says:

    Yeah, 90’s anime definitely has a “look” and “tone” that you don’t see anymore. On the one hand, it’s instantly recognizable. On the other hand, it really dates itself. There are certainly aspects of the character design I appreciate, but I actually haven’t found an anime “look” that really clicks with me. Maybe FMA, but most animes don’t have its budget (or attention to detail), certainly not anymore. I mean, you watch something like Inayusha and just weep at the production values compared to something like FMA, Bebop, or even Akira.

    BTW, Akira might have my LEAST favorite anime character designs. That’s the Dragonball Z guy, right? God, I hate THOSE character designs too.

    Uh, I really like this figure, and the photos are great. I’ll probably pick her up if she’s cheap on MFC someday. Love the contrast between the base (GREAT BASE) and the gun and her curvy form.

    • Tier says:

      I’m relatively forgiving when it comes to visual style in anime, though there are a few shows (the Madoka show, for instance) where I didn’t like how it looked and so haven’t seen it. Yeah, it does seem like a lot of anime suffers from poor production values; it doesn’t help that so many of them are generic harem comedies or high school dramas. As much as I like the borderline-hentai themes that you see in a lot of those shows, I really do miss the sort of anime we got just ten or fifteen years ago, like Last Exile, Angelic Layer, and Jin-Roh.

      I don’t think Akira and Dragonball Z are from the same guy (or same studio), though I’ve never seen any form of Dragonball so I’m not sure. Akira does have a really dated character style, though.

  12. Mikey says:

    Nice review. Because of this, and your photo’s, I just ordered her. I’ve always thought she looked sexy with that skirt. 🙂

    Thanks!

  13. rikimaru2501 says:

    It’s nice to be back and checking on your site. I keep lost track of it almost 3 years, I’m glad you did a review of this Shirow figure. I’m planning to get one cuz I’m a big fan of Shirow work since Appleseed. I also have his art books which i order in HLJ, yep his latest work is geared towards hentai, but it’s nothing to be surprised of cuz that’s where he started or assuming it’s where his creative juice begs to be released. His fondness for sexy female character design married into techie gadgets, guns , cars and cyberpunk realms is really something to be hold. To this day i find his works in cyberpunk style an inspiration. As an artist, his imagination really something to behold. Long before i was into Shirow works, i was already exposed with Shoji Kawamori (Macross & Gundam – Mecha Designer/Director).

    But when Ghost in the Shell was released 1995, that was my first anointment of Shirows which later turn into interest and studies. That was my first inter-action of sexy over the edge
    female characters. Which later brings me to anime artist like Shunya Yamashita, Tsukasa and lately Nitroplus creator of Done Anone. Anyway i really appreciate this shots cuz its give me a glimpse on the figure. It’s really typical Shirowesque figure to me based on the standard of his style of drawings back 90’s to present. I find the 90’s style anime more cool and really expressive artistic, works like Records of Lodoss War, Berserk, Gundam 0083 Stardust Memory, Akira, Ghost In the Shell, Macross – Plus, really amazing. You can see really strong hand drawn lines. Unlike now which is all flat and less tones and story lines are so flat and stereotypical bordering from fan-service and ecchiness. Well there are good ones like CLAYMORE and RAXHEPON, but lately its all boobs and crotch shot. Anyways i talked too much, but just wanna ask, where do you mostly order your anime figures?

    Thanks
    Sir Riki

    • Tier says:

      Yep, I’m still plugging along, though going slower than I would prefer. It’s probably nostalgia speaking but I do miss the 90s, particularly the earlier half, which was the my second anime-watching phase (though I think my interest in watching anime peaked back in the early 2000s, with shows like Noir, Last Exile, and Angelic Layer). I do like how those older artists – like Shirow, Kawamori, and Range Murata were not just good character artists, but were really skilled at technical drawing and design, too. One of the things I liked best about Ghost in the Shell, Macross, and Last Exile were the technological aesthetics of each series (well, maybe not so much the Last Exile vanships). You don’t really see that nearly as much these days; it kinda seems like most contemporary artists just pick some particular aspect of the female form that they concentrate in.

      Anyway, thanks for dropping by again. I usually buy my figures from Hobby Search or Amiami; both stores are good, though Amiami is often a little cheaper.

  14. rikimaru2501 says:

    I’ve watched Noir too even GONZO Last Exile – the new released is not so impressive Last Exile Fam. I’m impressed you watched Angelic Layer cuss i watched them too even Card Captor Sakura . CLAMP style of drawing is also unique plus there story-writing isn’t that bad compare to new generation anime writers. Yeah, quite true! the new generation of anime artist right now is more into ecchi and mostly harem stuffs. I thinks its not that bad but lately its become more saturated that story-lines are ignored in favor of fan-service. The only show lately which had my interest is Attack on Titans and Mobile Suit Gundam – Unicorn. Titans has interesting plot and story-lines. Unicorn has amazing technical details put into the mecha and character design. I never imagined they would released only 2episode per year with these Gundam.

    I’ll check on ami-ami if they stock still chances are they already disappeared, but nevertheless i’ve always wanted and a fan of cast-off. I just pray there are some extra stocks huhuhu. Thanks! dude.

    Regards
    Sir Riki

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