Tag Archives: epic ass

Tomo Asama from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

written on June 5, 2013 by Tier
Tomo Asama figure by Max Factory

Over a year after Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere (or Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, if you prefer the more-grammatically-correct American title) concluded its two-season run, figures have been slow to trickle out. The few that are available have come from a variety of manufacturers; Wave has released a few figures in its Beach Queens series, as well as an anomalous figure of lead girl Horizon Ariadust, which we looked at a while back. Alter, as is their wont, is going with a minor character in an action pose. (I previously expressed some trepidation regarding the figure’s price tag and size but lately I’ve been thinking she’d look pretty cool battling my Yamato 1/48-scale VF-1 Valkyries, and that could also make for some pretty cool photo ops.) Volks’s figures show a lot of promise but nothing yet substantive. Kotobukiya has a few in the pipeline, including an action-oriented one of Tomo Asama, who is who we’re looking at here. This figure, by Max Factory, is decidedly not action-oriented; instead, it is pretty obvious what attributes they wished to emphasize.
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Amane Shiratori from Anata no Shiranai Kangofu (NSFW)

written on January 16, 2012 by Tier
FREEing Amane Shiratori Figure Review

Anybody who’s read this site for a while knows that I like ero figures. And anybody who’s read this site for a while knows that I like big figures. Unfortunately, few figure manufacturers have made big ero figures – at least until recently. However, FREEing has stepped up to the plate to fill this niche, which is quite gratifying, particularly when the figure is as nice as Amane is.
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Felicia Andress from the Fantasy Figure Gallery

written on September 21, 2011 by Tier
Felicia Andress from the Fantasy Figure Gallery Review

Continuing the girls with guns theme, this is a saucily-dressed character named Felicia Andress. She’s a figure sculpted by a Japanese artist and manufactured by a Japanese company, but the box says Yamato USA and as part of their Fantasy Figure Gallery collection, she is clearly targeted at a western audience. Personally, though, I think that regardless of where you come from, what color your skin might be, what religion you believe in or even what gender you belong to, everybody can appreciate and respect an ass like Felicia’s.
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Rin Tohsaka from Fate/stay night (Unlimited Blade Works Version)

written on June 14, 2011 by Tier
Rin Tohsaka from Fate/stay night Figure

The internet is a pervasive force in everyday life. One of the things the internet is good for is finding reviews of stuff. In particular, I find movie and video game reviews to be helpful because people whose tastes are similar to mine generally view games and films in a similar way that I would. Not a long while ago I asked a friend what he thought of the film Sucker Punch and he said he didn’t really like it, and I knew I probably wouldn’t like it much, either. Our subjective tastes significantly overlap, and on top of that, there are objective criteria that one can use to assess a game or movie, such as plot coherence, the quality of dialogue, the quality of graphics, and so on.

Figures, however, are a funny thing because their appeal is so personal, at least to me. Take the Black Rock Shooter figures, for instance. On the surface, they seem to match many of the things I like: cute girls, fearsome weapons, and not many clothes. And yet I don’t particularly like them very much. Or take Miku Hatsune, whose character design I don’t particularly care for either. Certainly her design looks very similar to many characters that I do like and yet I don’t have much affection for her. Or take Yuri from Angel Beats. She’s cute, has a short skirt, and packs a big gun. Okay, I heard Angel Beats got a mixed reception but I haven’t even seen it and don’t plan to, so that doesn’t affect me at all. Why didn’t I buy the figure? Beats me. I’m thinking maybe I should check whether she’s in stock anywhere.

Basically what it comes down to is that every collector is going to decide for him or herself whether a figure is a worthwhile purchase, and that decision is going to be influenced by very nuanced and very personal factors. It’s a decision that really can only be made by the individual.

I’m guessing that a large majority of people reading this post have no idea where I’m coming from with this intro. That’s okay. I wish I were among you, to be honest. But enough of that, we have a figure to look at. This is my opinion of Rin Tohsaka.
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Mai Shiranui from The King of Fighters XIII (Hipline Version)

written on January 27, 2011 by Tier
Alphamax Mai Shiranui from KOF Figure Review

Back in my review of Kotobukiya’s Dizzy, I lamented that fighting games aren’t a more popular source for figure makers. That hasn’t changed at all in the year since I received that figure. In fact, I can think of only a few figures of fighting game characters that have been released since then – A-Label’s Vanessa, and I suppose the Noel Vermillion nendoroid, if you count that as a figure. 2011 isn’t looking any more promising, with the major ones being another Dizzy, a peculiarly pachycephalic Kasumi, and this figure right here. With a bunch of fighting games – Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the two Tekken and Street Fighter crossovers, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and the 3DS version of Dead Alive – scheduled for release, and with Super Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue still going strong, hopefully the situation will change and the girls of these games will grace us with more figures.
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Asuka Langley Shikinami from Neon Genesis Evangelion (Test Plugsuit Version)

written on December 26, 2010 by Tier
Alter Asuka Langley Shikinami from Neon Genesis Evangelion Figure Review

Alter released their second Rei Ayanami figure back in 2008. Collectors waited for an Asuka counterpart but none was forthcoming. That was strange because when you have Rei, you have to have Asuka too. They need each other, like Mario and Luigi, peanut butter and jelly, Asians and rice, schoolgirls and tentacles. Time passed and Alter’s Rei faded from memory until they finally got around to making a movie version of Asuka. And yet, it doesn’t really feel like a counterpart to me. She’s stylistically dissimilar from Rei – she’s got a perch of stone and twisted metal rather than just a flat black plate to recline on, and from observing her, it’s easy to discern how Alter’s production quality has improved since Rei’s release.
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Amanda Werner from Blassreiter

written on June 10, 2010 by Tier

Yamato Amanda Werner from Blassreiter Figure Review

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular figures on Tsuki-board. There’s this K-On! girl, who’s just a skinny little kid. Black Rock Shooter‘s chest is practically concave. Miku’s head looks wider than her shoulder blades. Dead Master appears to be in desperate need of some Plumpy’nut. Anime girls generally trend towards the anorexic, but some studios appreciate the curvature, and Nitroplus definitely falls in that category. We’ve seen a lot of figures of Nitroplus characters and many of them are busty and full-figured, but Amanda redefines what it means to bring the boom.
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Mari Illustrious Makinami from Neon Genesis Evangelion

written on May 23, 2010 by Tier

Kotobukiya Mari Illustrious Makinami from Neon Genesis Evangelion Figure Review

The longevity and impact of the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise is nearly without peer in anime, and a large part of its lasting popularity is due to its iconic characters, particularly Rei and Asuka. And what’s not to like about them? Both are young, sexy girls who are curiously well-developed for their age and wear tight bodysuits when going into battle. One is a taciturn, robotic introvert and the other is an assertive, mercurial hotshot with the temperament of nitroglycerin.

None of Gainax’s other properties have come close to the endurance of their foremost creation, and so they’ve taken the obvious course of action and remade the series, sticking in a new girl in the process. In this hobby, it’s the closest thing to having your own money printer.
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