It’s yet another figure from an H-game. Looking at my traffic statistics, my ero-figure reviews are by far the most popular pages on this site. Here’s hoping that this review continues that fine tradition!

Marie Mamiya is a character from the upcoming erogame Starless from developer Empress and artist Sei Shoujo, the illustrator of Discipline and Bible Black, among others.

I looked for some other pictures but nobody seems to know what’s up with Starless, as its release date has been pushed back time and again. The people on Hongfire are taking a resigned, fatalistic view of the game, having come to terms with the fact that they may not play this game in their lifetimes.

This figure is yet another prepainted kit from E2046’s Gathering lineup. Marie does come with several clothing options: a rather skanky minidress and a couple of brassieres, one in black and one in transparent plastic. I wanted to take pictures of Marie dolled up in her array of fashion options, but after the paint kept rubbing off on her skin, I decided not to bother. I know that none of you really want to see her clothed, anyway.

She comes with E2046’s usual spiffy set of magnets which clasp her clothing to her body. Unlike the other Gathering figures I own, she is separated into parts – to facilitate dressing her, her head and legs aren’t glued down. The fit is rather loose so I think I might glue her head and limbs; otherwise, they slip out very easily and show conspicuous gaps in the joint.

The original resin kit is by Volks in 1/6 scale, and their sculptors have done their usual fine job. I’m not sure that they completely nailed the likeness, but being that I know nothing about the character or the game, I suppose that’s not a big deal to me.

E2046’s painting is solid as usual. Well, there are a few faults, one being a bit of a splotch on her back. You can’t normally see it, being that she’s sitting in a chair, so that’s not a big deal to me either. Another problem is, as mentioned, how easily the paint on her clothing smudges her skin. Also, her mouth looks a bit strange from certain angles, particularly when looking up at her. I’m not sure if that’s a paint or sculpting issue. In general, though, the paintjob is great.

I happily admit that I bought this figure solely because I like how the character looks, and in that respect this is a pretty cool figure. Not really the most memorable or anything, but definitely appealing to those with no shame.

Speaking of having no shame, I know what drives traffic to this site, and I’m counting on the next picture to help me out on that score. Google Images, don’t let me down!

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Another Rei! They never stop coming. What is the world coming to? I’ll tell you what the world is coming to. Obviously Rei and her army of clones have become real. They’ve jumped from the small screen and big screen to reality. To conquer the world and then the galaxy beneath the weight of their multitudes. There is no thwarting them. There can be no defense against their replication. They’re coming for us.

I think this is my fourth Rei Ayanami review, and it isn’t even my last one. This particular example comes courtesy of E2046 by way of Volks, who released it in garage kit form last year, I think. She’s in 1/6 scale, although she looks taller than she is due to the nature of her base.

Let’s start by talking about that base. It’s not normally something I care a lot about, but here it’s important in the overall design of the figure. The bottom part is a flat disc, the standard base that E2046 uses for many of their Gathering kits. Atop that is a combination of mechanical engine and tentacle monster, sinuous wires protruding from it. Rei attaches to the thickest bundle of cables, with no gauche support pylons to hold her up. She is surprisingly stable despite the precariousness of her position, but I wouldn’t put this figure anywhere where she might be violently jostled.

Volks’s sculpt stays mostly true to Rei’s character design. She’s depicted in her famous plugsuit, her facial expression typically placid. Her hair is a bit different in that, rather than her usual bowl-shaped afro, the ends are splayed out. It’s a nice touch.

This figure was painted by E2046 and they’ve done their usual superb job. The colors are faithful to the character design and there aren’t any problems that I can see. I particularly like the contrast between Rei’s shiny silver-white suit and the dark, matte base.

I should note that when I got Rei from E2046, her head had snapped off her body. Fortunately the break was clean and after a quick application of superglue, she looks fine and you can’t tell that she’d been decapitated. Everyone who collects figures should have a tube of superglue handy for emergencies like that.

Some of the wires attach directly to Rei’s body, which is pretty sexy. The fit isn’t entirely perfect though; they fit loosely and are easy to knock off of her. This is another reason to display her in a safe place.

The pose is my favorite aspect of this figure. There’s a strong sense of movement and dynamism, which is balanced by Rei’s serene, inquisitive expression.

I haven’t been disappointed by E2046′s offerings yet, and Rei is another sterling example of their craftsmanship. I have a lot of Rei figures, and although this is my newest, it’s also my favorite of them.

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Yet another figure from E2046′s ORI lineup, Salma’s character design hails from a Korean MMORPG called Soul of the Ultimate Nation. It seems that SUN has achieved some traction in Asia but it’s virtually unknown in the United States, and given the dominating position of World of Warcraft in the American market, I doubt that a localization will achieve much success.

But here, we’re more concerned with the game’s character designs. As is typical with E2046′s figures, Salma is sculpted in a solid 1/6 scale and comes with a plain oval black base.

Salma is an elementalist, which I presume is some sort of wizard that slings fireballs and throws lightning with scattershot abandon. She further asserts her spell-flinging nature by carrying a staff, the weapon of choice for the arcanistically-inclined. Instead of slinking in the back and lobbing magic missiles from afar, however, she seems to prefer to mix it up from up close, as she grips her staff above her head, poised to bring it crashing down upon the skulls of her hapless foes.

The pose is dynamic and appealing but also a bit awkward, as she looks like she is soaring in mid-air but she’s actually jumping off of a rock. Her face also seems rather placid for someone who is presumably prepared to lower the boom on some poor chump, and her lips are puckered as if she’s blowing a kiss. It’s all a bit incongruous.

Despite the unrealistic nature of the figure, it all looks very cool. Details and paint are superb, as is usual for E2046′s stuff. I would have preferred that the cape be detachable, as I don’t really care much for capes and cloaks and such, but unfortunately it is not.

I think a more expressive facial expression would have been a better design choice, but all in all I really like Salma. I tend to like E2046′s MMO-inspired figures, and I hope they continue to make them.

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The demon girl is the latest from E2046‘s ORI line. I didn’t plan on getting her at first – I don’t really like horns or animal ears or bunny rabbit hats on anime-style girls – but after some rational introspection and an entirely irrational examination of my bank balance, I decided why the heck not.

This demon girl is nominally based upon an illustration by well-known artist Shunya Yamashita, but E2046 has made numerous deviations from the source, and it would be difficult for someone unfamiliar with Yamashita’s picture to connect the two. For one, they gave her clothes. They also modified her boots, and I really like what they did, giving them a high heel and changing the original robotic, drab-grey design to something more elegant and medieval in character. Her face is also significantly altered; Yamashita’s characters have very recognizable faces and often sport sly or seductive expressions. This girl is apprehensive rather than sultry, contemplative rather than inviting.

Other changes include the position of her legs; her right leg is now crossed behind the left leg, which adds a bit more dynamism to the demon girl’s pose, and the shift of her left hand so that it is a bit higher alongside her face. The dragon is ditched, which works okay here; this demon girl looks like she wants to be left alone.

Paint is superb, as is usual with E2046′s pre-painted figures. The color of her boots is particularly outstanding, with the near-jet shade of violet on her thighs giving way to a lighter, lustrous hue on her lower legs. Her wings are matte and leathery and look perfect.

She comes with an ornate pillar to perch upon. The pillar is very dense and is solid enough that the demon girl won’t pitch over if bumped. A sturdy mounting rod connects the two; the rod projects about a centimeter out of the demon girl’s backside so anyone who wants to seat her on something other than the pillar will be out of luck, unless they sever the rod.

I hadn’t planned on getting her at first, but I’m glad I did. She looks fantastic, particularly when paired up with the seraphic Caroline. While they originate from disparate sources, they comprise a complementing pair and present an example for how angels and demons should be done.

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I’m a big fan of E2046′s ORI lineup of figures. I preordered Caroline a bit late and missed out on the first shipment, but she graces my desk now and my life is the better for it. I played Lineage II for a bit a few years ago and didn’t like it much; I don’t mind grinding mobs in MMOs but Lineage took that design philosophy to a ludicrous extreme. (Admittedly, I’ve heard that Final Fantasy XI transcends Lineage II’s, uhh, ludicrousness in this respect.) I love Lineage II’s character designs though, and while I’m not too familiar with the Kamael race, their appeal is readily apparent.

Caroline is built in a solid 1/6 scale, and I noticed no apparent problems with her out of the box. She comes with an alternative right arm wielding a claw-type weapon, but I’ve eschewed it as it doesn’t seem suitable for her pose. I like how her weaponless hand looks, as if she is tremulously reaching out for something, or perhaps pointing in mute accusation.

She comes with shoulderpads and thighguards that slide into place using nifty magnets, which is very cool. I’ve dispensed with the thighguards to show off her lovely legs.

This is an absolutely stunning figure. I don’t think I really need to explain why; the pictures do it better than my words.

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Subaru is the third ninja to join your team in the Alicesoft erogame Beat Blades Haruka. Alter has already released Haruka and will be offering a figure of Narika in a few months. Perhaps Subaru will be part of Alter’s lineup, but whatever they do, she is already available in 1/7 scale plastic and painted form courtesy of E2046. I’m not sure who sculpted the original resin kit.

The pictures better describe the quality of the paint job than words, so I’ll simply say that E2046′s painters have done a fantastic job. The gimmick of this figure is Subaru’s removable clothes. She can be stripped down to her drawers, and her ninja tunic – which splits into three parts – can be easily reattached by magnets. It’s a pretty neat trick but I don’t play around with it much, mainly because she’s rather skinny while disrobed. Emaciated, almost. Perhaps she favors wearing corsets while not in her work clothes. Also, there’s a risk of damaging her while playing with her clothes. I’ve already scratched up her paint; E2046 includes a note suggesting putting a piece of plastic wrap between the pieces to prevent scratching and they aren’t kidding around. Of course, I ignored the instructions until I screwed up. Whoops. Subaru seems to be strongly built, as she survived a one-yard swan dive to the floor with the only damage being to the purple ribbon attached to her dress.

With any hand-built figure, problems are to be expected and two are evident here. The minor one is that Subaru’s foot peg doesn’t line up perfectly with the hole in the base, so there’s a gap of around a millimeter. Not much of a big deal to me. The larger problem is that her alternate right arm doesn’t fit while she’s wearing her clothes. I might be able to narrow down the peg with a file to get it to fit, but it’s not much of a big deal to me either as I like the empty sleeve. It adds some distinctive character to the character, kind of like Auron in Final Fantasy X. Although I guess he actually had both arms.

Overall, I think this is a great figure; Subaru’s got personality and she looks great, and those are the two things I’m looking for.

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The Dark Magician was the first pre-painted, pre-built figure I bought from E2046. They say she is in 1/6 scale, although she is really closer to 1/7. She is based on the PC MMORPG Lineage 2, albeit with a Caucasian skin tone rather than the inky blue complexion featured by the game’s dark elves.

The dark magician – who has no name as far as I know – comes with a cool mirrored base and a pair of staves, one silver and one somewhat akin to copper in hue. Her proportions are rather atypical; she is presented with very long legs and an impossibly curved back. She comes with a sort of train or tail for her outfit that covers up her backside, but I’ve elected not to put it on her.

I didn’t know much about E2046 or their ORI lineup when I bought her. I don’t even remember how I came across that site but when I saw this figure, I knew I needed to buy it. I love the outfit, the sculpt, and the character. Of all the figures I own, this one is my favorite.

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Another character from the acclaimed erogame Sengoku Rance, Nanjyou Ran appears to be one of the game’s principal female love interests. This particular figure is in a solid 1/6 scale and was designed and sculpted by Volks.

I got this figure from E2046 at the same time as Sen-hime. I am not familiar with Sengoku Rance, being unable to speak or read Japanese, but I’m guessing that she is supposed to be the more energetic of the two. Like Sen-hime, the painting and assembly is exquisite; she’s a bit more clothed, and her colorful jacket and sleeves are flawless.

As with Sen-hime, this is one of my favorite figures, and they look perfect together. She was a bit expensive, but she was undoubtedly worth the expenditure.

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I got this figure about a year ago from E2046. The original garage kit was designed and sold by Volks, and this figure is a prepainted, pre-assembled resin kit, 1/6 scale in stature. I felt a little bit of trepidation before buying it as the price tag was near twice what I’d pay for a PVC figure from Alter or GSC or anyone, and I definitely had no assurances regarding the quality control of a Hong Kong-based recast company.

I was very happy to find my expectations surpassed. The paint is superb and the fit is flawless. I love the metallic sheen on her stockings and her dismissive expression, as if she knows she can kick your ass while half-naked.

Her weapon is rather large and makes it a bit hard to display her. Then again, she deserves her own space.

Senhime looks beautiful, and this figure is one of my favorites. I’ve since bought a number of prepainted figures from E2046 and they’re all excellent, but Senhime stands out as one of the best.

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