Tag Archives: Review

Dakimakura Review – Sena Kashiwazaki from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (NSFW)

written on January 31, 2012 by Tier
Sena Kashiwazaki Dakimakura Review

Time for more pillowcase talk. This one features Sena Kashiwazaki, the rich, insecure, somewhat bisexual eroge enthusiast from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai. I like the manga and I’ve been a fan of Buriki’s art for a while – entirely because of this picture – and I was pleased that the anime adaptation was a lot of fun to watch. Despite not straying past the bounds of convention, the characters are likeably quirky, and it was refreshing to see a show with a male lead that wasn’t completely clueless, milquetoast, or pathetic. It’s one of the few harem-style shows where I didn’t dislike any of the characters, and I’m not sure which one is my favorite. I guess I’d call it a tie among Sena, Kobato, and Rika, but all the characters are cool. Grading strictly on appearance, I’d probably roll with Sena, though, which is why I have this dakimakura cover.
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Senhime from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls (Queen’s Gate Version) (NSFW)

written on January 28, 2012 by Tier
Queen's Gate Senhime Figure Review

Numerous figures of the Queen’s Gate characters have been released, offering different takes on the characters depending on the artist that illustrated the respective game book. The Queen’s Gate version of Senhime, however is rather unusual in that she has no game book; her appearance is based off of a single illustration by the artist Yoshikazu Miwa. Perhaps better known by his doujin circle name Synthetic Garden, I’ve been a fan of his art for a long time, particularly because his work encompasses themes like tentacle hentai, girls in bondage, and girls with big breasts. He seems an unlikely choice to provide a Queen’s Gate illustration, particularly one of a character like Sen Tokugawa, and the resulting figure is one that comprises an unusual synthesis that is much more about his style and much less about the anime character.
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Dakimakura Review – Lucrezia from the Art of Carnelian (NSFW)

written on January 22, 2012 by Tier
Lucrezia from Carnelian Dakimakura Review

Time for more pillowcase show-and-tell. This one comes from Carnelian, surely one of the most famous illustrators in the anime world. She’s a veteran artist, having been around as long as I’ve been on the internet, which goes back to the mid-90s, but although she’s quite well-known, she’s never had the sort of commercial stature of someone like Tony Taka or even newer artists like redjuice or Huke. She’s contributed character designs to just a couple of mainstream anime – Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito probably being the most prominent – though H-anime fans will also remember her work in Moonlight Lady. Instead, her work is much more visible in the doujin community, where she is very active. In particular, there are a number of dakimakura covers featuring her art; this particular one was released last summer during Comiket 80 and depicts an original character named Lucrezia.
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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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Lacia from BEATLESS

written on January 10, 2012 by Tier
Lacia from BEATLESS Figure Review

One of the first anime figures I ever bought was Alpha’s Motoko Kusanagi Hard Disk Version. It’s cheaply-made and primitive by today’s standards, and it’s not a scale-size figure, but even so, I still like it, mainly because I like the character design. Scantily-clad female combat androids are a staple of science fiction anime and video games and, having grown up on that stuff, it’s a theme I like a lot. I hesitated for just a moment on ordering Lacia, since Good Smile Company sold this figure only through their online store and I always consider twice when it comes to paying for a figure up-front. However, after seeing her preview pictures, I felt that this was going to be a fine figure, and now that it’s here, my esteem for her has only grown.
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Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (Swimsuit Version)

written on December 21, 2011 by Tier
Fate Testarossa Swimsuit Figure Review

Alter kicked off 2011 with Fate Testarossa and yet another figure of the blonde mage is among those that will close this year. In fact, Alter released five figures of Fate in 2011 alone, demonstrating that she is one of their favorite characters. Their love affair with the lightning wizard will surely continue unabated, as Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force is still untapped and more significantly, the second movie is on the way, with a new costume for Fate. Admittedly, it looks quite like her old costume with just a few changes but that certainly will not deter figure makers and Fate’s fans will certainly not object.
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Miku Append from Vocaloid

written on December 11, 2011 by Tier
Max Factory Miku Append Figure Review

Miku Hatsune’s popularity among figure collectors is ascendant, and though it seemed like she would have to share the 2011 hobby spotlight with Tamaki Kousaka and Super Sonico, most of Sonico’s figures won’t be coming out until next year and many of this year’s Tamaki figures are manifestly forgettable, leaving no competition to contest Miku’s prominence. From her humble origin as an image character of a niche software package, she has become a titan of commercialization, appearing not only in her own games but also games such as Pangya Fantasy Golf and the PlayStation 3 port of Idolmaster 2, becoming the mascot of Good Smile Racing, and selling Toyota automobiles. And of course, she’s gotten figures – not just numerous figures, but a numerous variety of figures. A few years ago, one could justifiably complain that Miku figures all looked alike – Good Smile Company’s Miku looked very much like Volks’s Miku which looked very much like Max Factory’s Miku. However, in recent times, figure makers have offered new takes on the Vocaloid mascot, casting her as a sort of warrior clad in robotic armor and as a pit crew worker. Even more conventional takes on the character, such as Good Smile Company’s Lat-type figure and Max Factory’s Tony Taka-designed figure present distinctive poses and facial expressions. The latest Miku figure to be released is perhaps the most distinctive yet, but whether that’s a good thing is debatable. Let’s take a closer look at it.
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Dakimakura Review – Charlotte Dunois from Infinite Stratos (NSFW)

written on December 6, 2011 by Tier

It’s time for pillowcase show-and-tell, and today we’ve got one from Infinite Stratos, that sci-fi harem show whose most notable contribution to anime culture is the tremendous amount of quality porn it has inspired. While the show’s plot is nothing special, several of the characters are agreeable enough, with Charlotte Dunois perhaps being the most likeable. Leaving aside her initial assumption of a male identity named Charles, she’s the one sane girl in a school packed with psychotics and lunatics. Even-keeled, friendly, and cheerful, she stands out amongst the principal members of the cast, and so it’s not surprising she’s got a ton of doujin merchandise, including a bunch of pillowcases. This one is from Evening Call, a circle that specializes in making dakimakura covers.
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Ming Yue

written on November 27, 2011 by Tier
E2046 Ming Yue ORI Figure Review

Ming Yue is the latest figure in E2046′s ORI series. Probably best known for making prepainted figures of recast resin, E2046 also sculpts their own figures, which they label their ORI lineup. Many of their figures feature female fighters, and while Ming Yue doesn’t appear ready to throw down, she belongs to the same fictional universe as figures like Jian Xue. These figures belong to the “Elegance” subgroup within E2046′s ORI product section, and that’s a fitting name since Ming Yue is elegant indeed.
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Ivy Valentine from Soul Calibur IV (Queen’s Gate Version)

written on November 22, 2011 by Tier
Ivy Valentine from Soul Calibur Figure Review

There ought to be more figures of fighting game characters, and of the fighting game characters who deserves figures, Ivy Valentine should be near the top of the list. She has one of the most easily-identifiable designs in fighting games, she is one of the mainstays of one of the best fighting game franchises in existence, and yet, only three or four figures have ever been made of her, and one of those is from Todd McFarlane’s toy company. Fortunately for Ivy fans, Hobby Japan has recently shipped a brand new figure of her as part of their Queen’s Gate figure lineup. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as good as one might have hoped for.
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