Preorder Outlook XII

For the past few weeks, it seems like there’s been nothing up for preorder but re-releases and recolors and figures from series that already have a ton of figures like Strike Witches, Bakemonogatari, and K-On! Some of the recolors are attractive, except I already have the originals, or I’ve got them on preorder. But there have been a few interesting figures that have gone up for order in the last few days, so now is as good a time as any to take a look at them.

September

Aegis from Persona 3
I was on the verge of putting in an order for Bandai’s Aegis, but I’ve changed my mind. I’m not a big action figure guy – though I’ve recently bought a few Figmas and another actsta – and with Alter set to unveil their 1/6 scale Aegis any day now, I don’t think I need to buy this one. It looks pretty good though; I like it a lot better than the Figma, which I own and have placed at the bottom of an unceremonious pile of action figures on one of my shelves.

Satellizer el Bridgette from Freezing
Here is a figure that requires a bit of background discussion. On one hand, Satellizer satisfies many of my requirements for a good anime figure – big size, big tits, and panties. On the other hand … it’s FREEing and Freezing. I’m not too impressed by FREEing’s work and I’m much less fond of Freezing, which unites two of the least likeable protagonists in recent memory. Satellizer is about as assertive as Mikuru and as emotive as Robocop, but lacks the cute heterochromia of the former and the awesome built-in thigh holster of the latter. Much of her character development occurs when she unexpectedly bumbles into people who are talking about her behind her back or when she is unconscious, which demonstrates how one-dimensional she is. But at least she’s got great tits; there is nothing at all redeeming about male lead Kazuya Aoi. If Freezing were a more prominent property, he’d be a strong candidate to wrest away the Emiya Shirou Award for Most Annoying Male Character from Emiya Shirou. He is overpowered for no discernible reason other than that the plot demands that he be overpowered, and he shuttles around campus, imposing his sanctimonious sense of morality on a school whose existence is predicated on students chopping each other to ribbons. His baffling lack of common sense – evinced early when he trespasses into Satellizer’s room and begins to read her diary uninvited – is utterly appalling. There is nothing remotely sympathetic about him. By the end of the first episode, you hope that maybe he’ll stop being such a simpleminded asshole; by the end of the second, you are fervently, feverishly praying that he is actually Jewish and that Hitler will show up by episode 5. Unfortunately, nothing so propitious occurs, and anybody who can gut out this show will have to bear with his brainless blundering and insipid, banal sermonizing. In spite of all this, I’m giving the show another chance, and I can scarcely believe I’m doing so. Perhaps the only reason I can stomach it is that I am genuinely curious as to whether Freezing is the dumbest show I’ve ever seen.

Which brings us back to this figure. So, on one hand, it’s from a manufacturer I don’t care much for and it’s from a show that I really don’t like much. On the other hand … big size, big tits, and panties. I’m pretending that the Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls anime doesn’t exist, and I think I can do the same with the Freezing anime as well.

October

Miku Hatsune Append from Vocaloid
Here is another figure that needs a bit of background discussion. I’ve said before that I’m not a big fan of Miku Hatsune. I don’t particularly like her songs and I don’t think her basic character design is all that interesting. I do own one Miku figure, mostly because I had a photo idea which didn’t work out at all, and if anybody wants to buy it off of me, I’m quite willing to let it go for cheap. However, I like the Append design quite a bit more than her standard appearance. Her costume is very attractive, particularly the one-fingered gloves, the footless tights, and the sliver of her bodysuit that she is studiously contemplating. I also like the starkness of her color scheme, particularly the muted hue of her hair, which contrasts sharply to the Daiki Gel green of Max Factory’s other figures. And of course, there’s the big plus that a lot of people who like Miku don’t like this figure. The flipside of that is they seem to not like this figure because of her face, and I gotta admit that they have a point. Her face looks … well, outside the norm of an anime figure’s face. I call Max Factory’s earlier 1/7 scale figure “E.T. Miku” but with her wide-spaced eyes and exotic features, I think that moniker better fits Miku Append. At any rate, I think I can overlook her distinctive appearance as well as my apathy for both the character and the cultural phenomenon surrounding her. Plus she looks like she’ll be fun to take pictures of. I don’t have any ideas for her right now, but a figure like this works for a lot of things I’d like to try.

November

Ingrid Bernstein from Freezing
This, of course, is another figure from Freezing, and everything I wrote about Satella applies to her. Especially the tits and panties part. Her tits look sort of strange though, standing stiff and bulbous as they are. You sorta expect them to sag off to her sides. Ingrid must come from a wealthy background, being able to afford that sort of surgery at such a young age.

Disregarding the baggage of being from such an awful anime (I don’t know whether the manga is any good or not), Satella and Ingrid are intrinsically pretty nice, and I suppose I’m interested in seeing whether FREEing continues their line. I hope the next one isn’t lying down, though; I don’t really have enough surface space for a bunch of 1/4 scale figures spread out like patients etherized upon a table. If they do, I wonder if Lana will be next; I kinda like her. Sure, she’s an irrepressible mountain-dwelling homewrecker with a peculiar speech mannerism, but I like how she identifies her goals and takes decisive action towards those ends. She’s a refreshing contrast to Satella, who just mopes a lot, and Kazuya, who is just a whiny douche. And she wears a fundoshi! Or the Nepalese equivalent, anyway. These things are important.

Sora Kasugano from Yosuga no Sora
I really liked MegaHouse’s Sora and I was looking forward to watching Yosuga no Sora. That enthusiasm lasted for about thirty seconds, when I found that Sora was a distasteful, unpleasant little turd. I ignored the show up until its final episodes, when I heard that Sora’s temperament improved somewhat, and she even copulates with her brother. Now I don’t care much for incest – it’s really not my thing – but that was still a pretty cool thing to see in a televised show. So now I’m thinking about picking up Sora, just because she performs fellatio. I mean, how many figures are there of characters who have canonically performed fellatio? Well, let’s see … in my collection, such a list includes Rin Tohsaka, Saber, Eleanor Mercer, Tamaki Kousaka, Isoroku Yamamoto, Ameri Kawai, Kotonoha Katsura, Narika, Metatron, Haruka, Nora Stuart, Rika Shiraki, Kaori Saeki, and a few more. Hmm … maybe it’s not such a special thing after all. Okay, how many fellate their sibling? That’s easy – Sora. What a nasty, nasty girl.

You know, I’m really having to rationalize buying a lot of the figures I’m thinking about getting. I wonder if that’s a sign I shouldn’t be buying these figures. However, Sora is pretty cute, and I can think of a couple of ways I’d like to photograph this figure. Aside from a figure’s inherent qualities, that’s a pretty important factor when I consider which ones to buy.

December

Alice from Queen’s Gate
This is an exclusive of some sort, which necessitates going through a proxy. I missed the first version of this figure, which had light green hair, and didn’t actually pay much attention to it. However, I’ve come to appreciate the figure more in recent times and I really like the bold black-and-red color scheme of this one. I’m pretty sure I’m going to order this one.

Saber Extra from Fate/extra
I’m less sure I’m going to order this one, though the chances are tilted towards the more likely side of the scale. I like Saber’s basic design and I’ve said that I’d like to see a good figure of Saber in her blue dress without the additional armor plating. Saber Extra’s design one-ups that by opening up the back and putting a transparent window in the front, giving everybody a wonderful view of her panties. I mean, you have to love Japanese anime culture; someone over there was like, “How can we make this new character distinctive, but still as classy, elegant, and strong as the other Sabers?” and somebody answered, “Let’s let everyone see what underwear she’s wearing.” Actually, when I first saw Saber Extra’s design, I wasn’t bothered so much by the crotch window as by the red color of her dress. I’m not sure why; maybe it’s because it overpowers the crotch window. Anyway, the figure looks nice, it’s 1/6 scale and seems like a decent match for Clayz’s old Saber figure, which is inexplicably getting a reissue. Unfortunately, I don’t really like Clayz’s figures much. So I dunno. I’m thinking the best course of action is to wait a bit and see if someone else offers a better figure. If not, though, I don’t think I’ll regret preordering this Saber; my misgivings are more that I hope somebody else does one better rather than not liking this sculpt.

Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
This post wouldn’t be complete without a Fate figure. Good Smile Company is reissuing this figure, which came out a couple of years back. It’s 1/4 scale, which is fantastic, it’s a swimsuit figure, which is less fantastic. Yeah, she’s showing about as much skin as the lingerie-clad Freezing girls, but the way I see it, swimsuits are meant to be seen – they can be cute or sporty or sexy, whereas underwear is generally meant to be functional or erotic. It’s a subtle distinction but it makes a big difference in how I view these figures.

I passed on this version of Fate the first time around because I wasn’t too fond of her face. It looked sort of flattened, and it reminded me of some of those anime-styled cosplay masks you sometimes see people wear (there’s a term for that but it escapes my memory). So, I dunno again. I don’t mind buying another 1/4 scale Fate figure but then again, I did not have any regrets not picking up this figure on its first release, and I don’t think I’d have any regrets passing on it again.

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46 Responses to Preorder Outlook XII

  1. JL Coburn says:

    A figma of Aegis is on my list to get once I can afford it. I’m coming to like figmas more than statues because I can pose and repose them when I’m bored.

    That said, I wouldn’t mind that Sora figure since I doubt they’ll ever do anything posable with her. And she’s not that…well okay, she has her moments. Maybe its just the writer in me but I see where she’s coming from as a character. Still, I enjoyed the anime, wish the VN had an English patch.

    And as for Saber, I think Alter is the only one that really calls to me. I’m not so into the ‘BLAM! There it is!’ of Extra, though please oh please let there be something decent in the Limited Edition US release of Extra. I know its that goth kid I was back in High School that wants Saber Alter most, and I know a figure or statue is as close as I could ever get to buying her. Yes, I want the DD. Desperately. Know anyone trading one for a kidney?

    • Tier says:

      I keep wanting to do something with the Figmas I’ve got. I really want to spend some time photographing them, since I ought to be able to do some creative things with them and I’ve got a couple of ideas kicking around in my head. They take a lot of work to get posed properly, though.

      I didn’t give Yosuga no Sora much of a chance, and I kinda feel I ought to, partially because some of the characters look interesting but mostly because it’s halfway to porn, from what I’ve heard. I’m kinda hoping Sora isn’t as bad as I’m assuming; I’ll admit that I see a flat chest, twintails, thirty seconds’ worth of snottiness, and I instantly think, “generic loli tsundere.” I’d like to be wrong about that.

      Unfortunately, I can’t say I do. However, if I might be so bold as to make a recommendation, if you are willing to sacrifice an organ for the Saber Alter DD, you might also be willing to risk your freedom for one. If that’s so, there are a ton – tons and tons – of people who love showing off their dolls on figure.fm and other such places, as I’m sure you know. I’d suggest making the acquaintance of one or more of them, connive some way to have them bring their dolls outside their homes (perhaps a doll meet; these people love doll meets), and then BAM … okay, you can plan out the rest without the sound effects. If you do it right, you’ll have your doll and both of your kidneys … win/win all around, no?

      • JL Coburn says:

        That is true. Keeping the Frauline Rin I have in any sort of pose is a pain since you can’t tighten the joints in any way. But, she is serving as her main purpose in this house very well. Size reference for a 1:12 made of paper clay. Still need to do more work on it though.

        She is a bit on the generic side. I will give you that. But I still enjoyed the afternoon I spent watching the series. And yeah, Every couple of episodes you get sex scenes with different girls so there is that bonus.

        Contrary to popular belief, I do have SOME moral character. One of the laws I live by is I won’t steal from friends. I may desire it like hell. I’d have to find someone that everyone dislikes as the mark, and that’s hard considering the company Saber Alter tends to keep. But its an idea.

        • Tier says:

          That’s definitely a compelling bonus. Maybe I should give it a try. I mean, if I can get through Freezing, Yosuga no Sora ought to feel like a refreshing breeze crossed with Debbie Does Dallas.

          If you reconsider, I think I see an out. The Dollfie community seems to be so widespread that I am certain there is a distasteful idiot out there with your doll. Then it’s just a matter of locating this person.

  2. Adam says:

    I’m mildly interested in the Miku and Saber figures, but I’m not really sold on either of them yet.

    I thought Append Miku looked pretty awesome when Max Factory first teased her, but it seems like I’m liking the look of the figure less as time goes by. I also don’t understand why it took Max Factory so long to put Miku up for preorder. They had painted samples over a year ago!

    Regarding Saber, I’d very much like to see a nice PVC rendition of her Extra form, but I was immediately wary when I saw that it was Clayz doing the honors, which I think is similar to your sentiments. I have the original Clayz blue dress Saber, but it’s really a pretty mediocre figure. I still like it well enough, but I think that it is more out of sentimental value as one of my earliest purchases than out of the technical merits of the figure. I’m kind of curious if their reissue will be any better than the original given the ridiculous amount of time that has elapsed since the first run.

    Finally, be careful when assembling Alice if you do pick her up. I broke two different pieces on my 1P Alice while trying to remove all the plastic wrap and put everything in the right place. The unboxing of that figure was a disaster the likes of which I haven’t seen before or since in this hobby. 🙁

    • Tier says:

      I’ve got this funny feeling that if I get the Miku Append figure – and I’m pretty sure I’m going to – it’s going to be one of those figures that I place at an unusual angle on the shelf to mask her problems. My reaction was similar to yours; okay, maybe I didn’t think it was awesome when I first saw it, but that’s mostly because I’m inclined to skip over Miku figures. I did like the initial concept images a lot, but when the painted figure went up for preorder I was kinda like, “Hmm … what’s going on with her face?”

      Great … now I know what’s going to happen: I’m gonna get her and then I’m gonna compare her to various sci fi games and shows and see what alien race she most closely resembles. Right now I’m thinking Arilou from Star Control 3.

      I like Clayz’s Saber for the same reason; I watched the first few episodes of the Fate/stay night anime to see what the hype was about and decided I liked Saber enough to get a figure. Unfortunately for me, most of the ones I wanted – GSC’s old 1/8 scale one most of all – were sold out, and it took a considerable amountv of effort and money for me to purchase Clayz’s figure. I loved it, though it was one of my first seven or eight figures, I think, and now I’ve consigned it to the bottom shelf of the Detolf, which is actually now blocked from viewing by a fan. I’m really hoping Clayz has gotten better as a manufacturer in the last three or four years.

      Thanks for the heads up; that’s bringing back some really bad memories of unboxing Aldra. I’m pretty sure I lost most of her parts within a couple of hours of taking her out of the box.

  3. Luth says:

    I’d really like to see a nice figure of Satellizer with her sword thingy and red battle outfit (which looks eerily similar to Saber Extra’s actually…). You certainly got farther than me, I’ve only seen the first episode and was turned off but I can still appreciate a good character design.

    The face and the drawn out tease on that Miku Append killed off any desire to own it. Although I really like her design so I was delighted when Max Factory announced her as their 100th figma that you can put in the same pose and has the same transparent hair but somehow, a better face. But the PVC sculpt and paint look really nice, will look forward to your shoot.

    • Tier says:

      I’m up to episode ten now, I think. I can’t believe I’m watching this show. Though “watching” is something of an exaggeration; I’m just keeping it windowed while I do my postprocessing and web surfing.

      Awesome, I may be the only English-writing reviewer with a website to write a post on the new E.T. Miku, then. That means there won’t be any rush to get that review online. I still got this funny feeling I’m gonna get this figure and I’m gonna be like, “Man, she look like something out of the X-Files.”

  4. Cantan says:

    Ouch… a Clayz Saber… hate to say it, but I really doubt it will be good. Mind you I am still tempted by their ChamCham, so who knows.

    The only figure I might order from this list is Alice simply because I always kinda wanted the original but missed the boat.

    I was tempted a bit by Freezing Satellizer as it is a fairly cute figure, quite provocative and one of my favourite knock-off Dakimakura’s features this image:
    http://www.amiami.jp/images/product/main/111/CGD2-05584.jpg
    (without the towel obviously!)

    Still, I contend that this has been a really week 2 months or so for figure preorders.

    If I don’t go for one of the black variant Daiki Tamaki Kosaka’s I don’t think there is anything else I’m really interested in… though that might change as the goods actually release.

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I’ve got the earlier 1/6 scale Clayz Saber and it’s not that great, and I have a feeling this one won’t be much better. I’m kinda expecting someone to do a better Saber Extra and Gift will be doing one, but it’s 1/8 scale and I don’t have any of the other Gift figures. I’m not sure who else would do a Saber Extra, now that I think about it. GSC? I got a feeling Rider, Archer, and particularly the Fate/zero characters will be higher priorities. Alter? As far as I remember, the only figures they’ve done of Fate/stay night characters in their combat outfits are Saber Lily and Caren; they’d be more inclined to stick her in a bikini or maid uniform. Daiki? Who knows what they’re gonna do.

      It’s definitely been pretty slim pickings for preorders. Not a bad thing for me, since I’m buying up some more photographic equipment and I have an enormous backlog of stuff I want to take pictures of, but it’s sorta disappointing since the first half of this year has been so good.

  5. Tian says:

    I’ve been uninspired by the figure announcements as of late. I considered getting one of the Freezing ones, but decided against it. Would love to have an ecchi 1/4 figure, but I don’t think those two are the right ones.

    September’s gonna be a big month for me, barring any delays. For October I only have 2 preorders so far, and nothing at all for November. It also sucks that I haven’t really gotten anything since early June, and won’t be getting anything until the end of this month. Quite a drought for me as a figure collector…

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, it’s been sparse. I’m hoping Wonder Festival will have some good stuff, but I can predict what we’re gonna see: more Strike Witches, Bakemonogatari, Nanoha, and K-On! figures, and the first wave of Madoka figures. I’m really going out on a limb there, aren’t I?

      So far I don’t think I have much scheduled to ship this fall. Well, besides all the exclusive figures I’ve ordered, but those are all paid for already so I don’t have to worry about them. I guess that’s a good thing cuz there’s this camera bag I want but it costs $260, which is kinda nuts for a backpack.

      • Tian says:

        I’d like to see more Strike Witches and Bakemonogatari stuff (haven’t gotten sick of those yet…). I’m really interested in Madoka the show, but I haven’t liked any of the designs translated to figures thus far. Wide, blocky heads… yeah.

        On a side note, I think you’ll see that there are a lot of intangible benefits to having a good camera bag. Like with tripods, you might feel silly about splurging on one, but you’ll really feel that you’ve gotten your money’s worth. I have a Lowepro bag which wasn’t cheap, but the convenience of having instant access to literally all my photography gear far outweighs the cost. The fact that it can still make 30-40 lbs of equipment feel like nothing while hiking is just icing on the cake.

        • Tier says:

          I should have written that to say “new stuff”; I wouldn’t be sad to see more Fate Testarossa figures, and I’ve gotten nothing against Bakemonogatari. And I’d be happy to see GSC make a Rider figure. Though not of the dude Rider.

          I think you are right; I’d really like to get a nice bag so I can go outside to some nearby state parks and practice taking pictures outside with a figure. The last time I did that, I carried my camera stuff in a small shoulder bag and carried a figure (Nadeko), a tripod, and some other stuff (like a rocket blower and a sync cord) in a gym bag, which was really uncomfortable to carry around. It’d be really nice if I could just pack that stuff in a backpack and hang the tripod off the outside instead.

  6. Kurenai says:

    If you don’t mind sharing, where-abouts are you ordering Alice from? I almost had a heart-attack when I saw it, looks like an awesome figure.

  7. Devastator001 says:

    Yeah pretty much have to agree if you have to convince yourself to get the figure you’ll prolly not like it when you get it later. @_@; Still looking foward to seeing the final Decomaster of Orchid Seed’s Ignis of the Endless WInter 😀

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I’m trying to cut down on marginal figures; there are figures I’ve got like Max Factory’s old Miku and transvestite Yoko and Alter’s Mio that I don’t care a great deal for now, and I probably should hock them on eBay. The two Freezing figures I like; Miku Append I think I like; Sora and Saber Extra are pretty marginal. I don’t think the latter two will sell out very quickly so I’ll think them over a while more.

  8. Doriinatrix says:

    The Eliot reference nearly made me spit up my yogurt! Never stop blogging, you are my favorite figure blogger.

  9. Fabienne says:

    I always like your sexy headerpics you put together for your preorder outlook ^_^

    Oh there will be a black and red version of Alice from Queen’s Gate, personally I prefer the one with the light blue hair which Im proud of having in my collection 😀 She is a great figure 🙂

    This Saber Extra also caught my attention, even though my interest in Saber as a character is quite low. Anyway I really like this elegant and detailed dress of her, the pose and the face are also my taste. I would have preferred the skirt without transparency, but I can also live the boldness of this transparent skirt. 😀

    • Tier says:

      I like the original Alice as well; in fact, I was looking through some old figure reviews on other websites a couple weeks ago and came across some pictures of her, and that’s why I’m ordering this recolored version.

      It’s kinda funny how the only front photo that Clayz released makes it look kinda like Saber isn’t wearing any underwear at all. I’m curious as to what the review samples will look like.

  10. The Freezing anime is absolute toilet but the manga is better, though not by much.

    Kazuya is still douche, Satellizer has a more pronounced bipolar disorder and goes from stone cold to fragile as glass within 2 frames of the manga. Much like the plot, which goes from all out action to comedy to angsty with serious issues without so much as a batter of an eyelid. and the rest of the cast is still the same. But, the art is pretty good and the fights are much better because the anime neutered the level of graphic violence seen. Seriously, these bitches really go at eachother in the manga. Only the last episode comes close to what you see in the manga.

    And is it just me or does that FREEing figure have a really REALLY flat face? Also, I don’t like Miku either but I did like the append until it was announced for general release (though I was expecting it). I guess the exclusivity played a major part in me liking it in the first place. There are a couple of good append GKs tho! and Wonder Festival is going to be flooded with Madoka kits on the GK front, I can Guarantee it!!

    • Tier says:

      I somehow managed to make it through the whole show, and it’s definitely among the dumbest anime series I’ve ever seen.

      Their faces do look kinda flat, especially around the eyes. I’ve only got one FREEing figure, but I don’t like it a great deal now, so I’m leery as to what these will look like.

      I don’t doubt we are going to see tons and tons of Madoka stuff very soon. I’ve got this feeling that it’s gonna be the next gravy train that GSC will be conducting, as far as PVC stuff goes.

      • armorknight says:

        About Freezing, it’s much better if you simply view the female characters as sex objects and ignore the male characters. Makes the manga/anime much easier and more fun to read/watch IMO.

        • Tier says:

          Yeah, that’s probably how I should’ve watched it. At least Lana was a fun character who didn’t mind taking off her clothes. The rest … not quite as likeable, for the most part.

  11. duqs says:

    Yes that Saber from Fate/extra has has caught my attention, but what i’m really waiting for is the Caster from the same series XD. As for freezing, I’m waiting for the other red haired (forgot her name) instead of Satellizer =D

    *sigh* I dunno why, but i feel like some figure companies are really out there just to get our money. Like pompoms, flags and smiley faces in a certain figure. Oh miku why are you too popular? XD

    • Tier says:

      Your wait is over! I think. At least, I saw that a Caster went up for preorder in the Hobby Search newsletter they sent out. Hmm, would that be Ganessa? I sorta lost track of a lot of the names in the show. I wouldn’t mind a figure of her; Cassie would also be cool, just because I’m sorta partial to American girls in multinational shows.

      You know, I know this Miku stuff is all for a good cause, but I’m feeling pretty cynical about how they are using Miku in this manner. (I should mention that I did donate money to the Japanese Red Cross after the earthquake occurred.).

  12. azn0will says:

    Ohh, nice the Satellizer figure! :3 The questions I asked you last time was actually pertaining to that figure 😛 I’m glad you found it 🙂

    • Tier says:

      It’s a good looking figure, I think I’m going to order it. I may have beef with the anime, but I’ve got no problem at all with the character designs. And she’ll definitely be huge, I think; she’s nearly half a meter long, it says.

  13. BioToxic says:

    Ah Freezing. I couldn’t stomach any more than 2 episodes. It’s a shame since the female character designs are very appealing and the biggest draw to the anime for me was the fan service. Yet A.C.G.T (this is their first anime supposedly) and co. still managed to make an unwatchable mess. Oh well, at least there’s screen caps and stuff. Sadly this means any Freezing figures have been rather unappealing to me so far.

    I’ll be picking up Alters Sora purely for her white dress. I’d been holding off getting one of the other Soras in the hope that someone would see sense and create her in this dress. And it just so happens Alter did, yay. Sora really was a little bitch in the anime, but you have to admit she did deliver in her arc.

    The original QG Alice was nice as well as the leopard print one; I’m just not so keen on this recolour. The black, red and blue conflict too much for my liking. Her hair colour just doesn’t look right and clashes too much with her pale skin tone. Maybe I’m just too used to seeing normal pale green hair Alice. It will be interesting to see how she turns out though if you decide to get her.

    • Tier says:

      I somehow made it through the whole season. I’m not sure how, and I think maybe I should’ve watched Madoka or somesuch rather than spending my time with it. It’s definitely up there among the dumbest shows I’ve ever seen, and maybe its only redeeming factor in my eyes is that Lana is likeable enough.

      That’s pretty much how I view Sora as well; I really did not like her and she delivered a terrible first impression … but well, she delivered in another way at the end of the show. I’ve got a lot of figures of characters who look kinda like perverts but very few of them actually are perverts, and it’s even more delicious that Sora looks like such a sweet and meek girl.

      • armorknight says:

        Sora’s only worth as a character is being a fuck toy IMO. The best ending in the anime for me would have been for Haru to get with one of the other girls and have Sora as his secondary mistress/sex slave.

  14. azn0will says:

    Nice. I’m getting one too. This is gonna be my first authentic figure. But if you don’t mind me asking, where are you ordering yours from? I pre-ordered from Otacute for a hefty $150.

    And about the anime itself, I do like the general concept of it, but I do agree with you that Kazuya Aoi is a fail and very flawed protagonist. It really bugs me how he acts, but if I overlook him and just pay attention to the other characters, I can say that I do enjoy the anime. Those are just my thoughts. 🙂

    • Tier says:

      I typically order stuff from either Hobby Search or Amiami. Amiami’s a bit cheaper but it’s sort of annoying how they don’t have an order history page like Hobby Search does.

      Yeah, I like the idea of girls beating up giant monsters and each other while their clothes are ripping off. It’s evidence of just how big a douche Kazuya is that his presence overwhelms the impact of naked tit swordfights.

  15. Cantan says:

    To Christie or not to Christie…

    http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english&vgForm=ProductInfo&sku=FIG-MOE-3856&template=default/product/e_display.html

    Can’t decide whether I’m interested or not… but I stopped playing Tekken after Tekken 4, but I could have sworn she was blonde!

    Figure has some nice curves… but I’m not sure the 6 pack goes with the love handles on the hips… you are either buff or curvy in that way… not both!

    She’s quite cheap, but she’s Kotobukiya and I have had some bad experiences with them!

    Any suggestions?

    • Tier says:

      I’m pretty sure I’m going to order her. I have some reservations about the Bishoujo figures; a lot of them just look really bad, particularly in the face. Christie’s pretty cute though, and she looks much higher quality than a lot of the recent ones (particularly Sue Storm). Hopefully her production version doesn’t deviate significantly from the prototype.

  16. Cantan says:

    Received my Hibachi today and she is a lot cuter than I had anticipated – they did a very good job. Was also pleased that Amiami finally dropped the price on the Daiki Shimei Ryomou figure that I have been agonising over for the last 6 months… 40% discount, thank you very much.

    Things seem to have improved a little in my eyes anyway (recent event? – I don’t keep track of Japanese Exhibitions):
    Am liking the look of the new resin kit of Ignis (http://tokyo-hunter.com/category/figures/resin-kits/product/17-ignis-endless-winter-resin-kit-0) and a certain site is taking preorders for 2 pre-painted versions!
    There’s Neris from Kotobukiya (http://www.kotobukiya.co.jp/cgi-bin/db_sm_main_css.cgi?B=8021&N=detail01&C=901-1174-1184-1334)

    Things may finally be improving!

    • Cantan says:

      OK, really shouldn’t have looked up Wonder Festival on Heisei… now there are too many figures I want!

    • Tier says:

      I’m very much looking forward to the PVC version of Ignis, whenever it comes out. I’m assuming it’s pretty much a lock for PVC adaptation, anyway. Though I own their earlier version of Ignis and it’s easily the suckiest of the three Ignises that were all released at the same time (I should’ve gotten the Alter or Max Factory version instead … is there ever a realistic situation where one should go for an Orchid Seed figure over an Alter or MF one?). I’ve got high hopes for this one, though the flower bouquet hilt on her sword looks sorta silly.

      I really need to get around to photographing Hibachi and some of the other figures I’ve got laying around here. It’s terrible when I’ve had photograph ideas kicking around for up to two years and I haven’t gotten around to actually doing them yet.

  17. Shashin says:

    This is probably the best place for this, but I remember reading this lineup initially and thinking it’s rather weak myself. I like the Sora figure and maybe the Miku Append figure, but I doubt I’d order either of them myself. I wasn’t sure when I first read this post, but now I’m seriously contemplating putting in a preorder through Yokatta for the Alice figure, though. I really like the design and I can’t say no to cute flat chested girls with strange color schemes.

    I’ve mostly pulled out of the figure hobby myself, but there have been a few things of note for me recently. E2046 shortly opened up preorders for the 1/4 Kanu that I had wanted, and I managed to get one in. It has been about a month already, and preorders are now closed, so we’ll see if I get it, but I know I got an order in the first day they had it available. Hopefully my previous nonpayments won’t screw me (though their policies say you can have 5 in a year, before they start requiring a deposit.) Best of all though, would have to be the price she was listed at; I think the preorder invoice is at like $167, but I’m not sure if that’s estimated with shipping or not. Still, it will likely top out at around the $200 mark, and I’m fairly certain both KOS-MOS and Kenshin were well over $300.

    There have been a few other figures I’d be interested in, but I don’t think there are many I’ll actually pick up. The biggest one I’m on the fence about is probably the Panty and Stocking pair; it’s from a manufacturer I’m not familiar with and the production shots leave a hell of a lot to be desired, at least as far as build quality goes. But the poses are so very tempting.

    The other interesting bit is this figure.No way in hell I’m paying that much for it, but I find it quite fascinating. I’m especially fond of the apparatus that comes with it; depending on its size I could see it being used for all sorts of fun things.

    • Cantan says:

      Yeah, I saw that real art figure… must be pretty big from the description – 1/5?

      Got to say that Amiami’s publicity shots did nothing for me, but Heisei has a few from the festival which are a lot better.

      I was just trying to sit back and let my pre-orders slowly arrive without ordering too many more (Maxima still hasn’t been unpacked – that’s unheard of for me) and settle for a more sustainable one every 3 months or so… its just isn’t happening.

      There are way too many good looking figures due and I think Alter have identified one of my great weaknesses. How am I supposed to resist this?

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, preorders were pretty weak immediately prior to Wonder Festival. I did preorder space alien Miku and I think I’ll preorder the Freezing girls. I might preorder Sora. I don’t think I’m going to order the rest, though.

      I do not recall who makes the P&S figures that got a lot of publicity but I do remember not knowing much about them. I know Alter is planning on doing figures of Panty and Stocking and I would probably just wait for those, since I’m sure they’ll be good. That said, I do like how they got both figures up on the same stripper pole; I kinda doubt Alter’s version will be integrated in that manner (though I would love it if I am wrong).

      I love the Real Art Project, but I’m not quite as much a fan of their figures. The accessories that figure comes with are awesome, though. I’m kinda thinking I ought to try to build some props and sets in a similar theme as that. I wonder what figures would go well with such a setting?

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